Winter Athena

It's been a while since I last posted a make, but I think this one has been worth the wait. This is the new Athena Blouse from Elise at Honig Design. I've previously made her garden party dress and really loved the pattern. I was lucky enough to be one of the testers for this pattern, and I've been waiting to post it since I finished making it.

Athena is a fitted blouse with double diagonal pleated darts. The diagonal darts are somewhat similar to Simplicity 2444, which is a great pattern I've made more than once. I made the version with bracelet-length sleeves, but there is also a short sleeved version. I chose the longer sleeved version so that I can wear it now that the weather is cooling down. I used a lightweight wool in grey and red check to have both some warmth but still a good soft drape.

I made a straight size 1 unlined and with no adjustments and it fits me well. The waist is close fitting, the bust slightly looser, and the peplum means the hips are loose. I'm slightly long waisted and the waist sits just above my natural waist. The neckline is high but not tight, but could be lowered pretty easily if you don't like high necklines.

I don't always pay a lot of attention to instructions (famous last words?) but given I was pattern testing this I made sure to read and follow everything exactly. Elise's instructions are clear and easy to follow. One of my favourite things is the inclusion of a progress bar showing how far you are through making it - there's a bar of squares at the top of each step which turn blue as you go along. For PDF patterns where the instructions are spread over more pages, it's a helpful piece of information. I'm sure that for less experienced sewists in particular it will be useful to be able to see how much is left to do.

Not only are the instructions clear, but the blouse itself is quite easy to make. There are eight pieces - bodice front, two bodice backs, peplum front, two peplum backs and two sleeves - but it isn't difficult to put together. The darts are sewn first and then the bodice pieces are sewn together. The same is done with the peplum, then the two are joined, the sleeves added and the zipper inserted last. Because I was using a woven wool I also covered all the seams in bias binding to prevent fraying.

I actually haven't worn this top yet, partly because I wanted to wait until Elise had released it, but also because it hasn't quite been cool enough yet. But I can see this top getting a lot of wear throughout winter. I think I'll probably also make a light shortsleeved version for summer, or even lengthen the peplum to a skirt and make it a dress. I definitely recommend others to make it if you think it looks interesting.

Silver Waves Bowline Sweater

I've said it before, I'm a fan of NZ company Papercut Patterns. I've made a few of Katie's patterns and they're always great. The Ahoy collection was released back in February, and I snapped up three of the patterns. I've already made the Moana Dress, and now here's number two, the Bowline Sweater.

The Bowline Sweater is a raglan sleeve jumper with a folded pleated front. The fabric I used is one I had in my stash, a silver knit I picked up last year at Spotlight because it was on sale. I didn't have a plan for it but bought it because sparkly and shiny are fun, and I knew I'd find something to make with it. It's the thickness of a t-shirt knit, but the metallic thread makes it slightly heavier and slinkier, giving it a different drape to most knits.

Because the Bowline has that pleated front I wanted a fabric that wouldn't look messy with drapes and folds. I've seen quite a few striped versions, which work really well, But I am trying to use my stash more this year (it's not entirely working, but I'm trying), so looked at what I already had that might work. I thought the silver would work well because although it's a plain fabric, light hitting the top would interplay with the folds and drape and bring out the shine, like light playing across waves.

As with all Papercut Patterns, the instructions are well-written and clear. The front is a very confusing-looking pattern piece, but it's actually easy to follow and put together. Although I didn't pay complete attention to the layout for cutting the pattern out, so my front is actually mirror imaged. I've done that before when I was in too much of a rush to get on to my machine. It generally doesn't change the garment at all, but it is a slightly annoying error.

The fit is a bit of a mix, but not in a bad way. The raglan sleeves are relatively fitted, with long cuffs to pull down over your hands (I do that a lot, as you can probably see in the photos). The rest of the jumper is fairly loose. When I first finished it I felt that the front hung down over the waistband a bit too much, so I removed the waistband, cut the front piece on a curve so that the centre was shorter than the sides, then reattached the waistband. It still drapes but no longer overhangs.

I say this with each Papercut Pattern, but I really like this. It's an interesting take on a jumper, and can be made as a casual top or a more fancy one - which isn't easy to find in a jumper. And I'm glad I bought the silver knit last year, because it really was the perfect fabric for this pattern.

Hot Pink Merino

The weather is warming up, so this might be the last winter item I blog this year. The pattern is an adjusted version of the Fave Top from Tessuti Patterns. It's a one size pattern and designed to be oversized, so was initially far too overwhelming on me. I trimmed it in, also giving it slightly longer sleeves in the process. This was a bit of trial and error, cutting off a bit more and a bit more until it no longer seemed like I was a toddler playing dress-ups.

I added cuffs to the ends of the sleeves to make it properly long sleeved and wintery. I did initially stuff up the neckline, though. I wanted to make it more of a boatneck but cut it a little too wide so it was wanting to slip down off one shoulder. Combined with the batwing top it was all a bit too '80s, especially as my hair doesn't take much to be '80s fluffy! So I added a small foldover pleat to the centre front and a neckband to bring it in a little and keep it on my shoulders. It's still a loose neckline, but not falling off any more.

The fabric is a merino from The Fabric Store, and is lightweight but still relatively warm. I was a little daunted to sew with it, but it wasn't too bad. It behaved itself very well in my machine. Plus, it was on sale so I hadn't spent too much money on it!

I finished this top over a month ago, but it's taken me a while to put it up. Honestly, it's turned out just how I'd envisioned it, but when I put it on after finishing it I wasn't excited by it. It matched pretty much exactly what was in my head (the sleeve cuffs were meant to be maybe half an inch shorter, but that's it) but I didn't feel as good about it as I thought I would. I'm not normally one to wear oversized and untailored styles, so this top is a departure for me (apart from it being bright and colourful), so it took a few wears to get used to the shape.

This is actually the second lot of photos I took for this. The first were taken at a different spot and on a very sunny day and were all either far too bright or completely washed out. This time it was a slightly cloudy day and I waited for the sun to be off to the side behind some trees, and they've turned out much better.

The pink is very pink. It's been a while since I sewed a pink this bright, but I have sewn with a lot of pink fabrics in the past. At one point I banned myself from buying any more after noticing my excessive pinkness in the line at Lincraft. It was winter, so I was wearing my coat which is fuschia lined with hot pink satin, my phone at the time was pink, I was wearing pink tights, and two of the three fabrics I was buying were pink. I decided I needed to stop being the pink sewing Barbie, and didn't allow myself anything pink for a year. I do now try and be more varied in my colour choices, but was never going to be able to resist something as fabulous as this.

Overall I'm pretty happy with this top. A few things I've made this year have been outside my normal style comfort zone, and it is fun to experiment with different shapes. But it does take getting used to. And because I am, well, child-sized I do need to do adjustments when making something loose and oversized like this. Still, it's turned out well and is very comfy, which is the most important thing.

My Iron Hates The Morris Blazer

Doing Me Made May last month, I saw lots of people posting pictures of the Morris Blazer from Grainline Studio. I liked the look of it, a casual-ish blazer that's more cardigan than jacket, a nice shape that can be dressed up or down, so I decided to jump on the blazer bandwagon. Just a pity that my iron decided it didn't like the bonded lace fabric I used for it.

This is what less than a second of pressing the front of the blazer caused. Apparently the black thread used for the lace can melt. Of course it didn't do this when I pressed the seams while making the thing, or when I attached the interfacing, only when I wanted to make sure it was nice and neat for my photos. So in all of these photos I've studiously made sure that the front right is at least partially obscured so my iron's attack on the blazer can't be seen.

I played around a bit with where to place the sleeves. Deciding which of the shapes should be in the centre of the sleeve piece, and whether to have it at the top and bottom or in the middle, had me pinning and repinning a few times. In the end, I chose the ovally spoked shape over the solid black, because I thought it looked more interesting. It also matches the placement of the centre back.

The fabric was a little tricky to place correctly, because it's a thick ponte-style knit with the bonded lace over the top. Folding it evenly took a lot of time, and even so the back pieces slipped a couple of millimetres out of place when I cut it, which you can see in the middle of the centre back seam where the lines don't quite match up. I unstitched and restitched it, but wasn't able to get it quite right so the unevenness can still be seen if you look closely at the seam.

I decided to do french seams on the blazer, so it took a bit of extra time to make but has a cleaner look. The only exception was at the armscye, where I did normal seams and then used bias binding to cover the edges. I then stitched all the facings down by hand so that the stitching would be invisible and not interfere with the print of the fabric.

This was the first Grainline Studio pattern I've used, and I really enjoyed it. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, and the inclusion of a few extra notes to explain potentially confusing steps was really great. And the copyshop size download meant no need to sticky tape together a million different pieces of paper, which has put me off buying PDF patterns in the past. 

So while my iron has tried to attack this make, I really like it. I'm not sure exactly how I'll fix the iron's injury yet, but think I might try to use black thread and almost redo the lace embroidery. It won't quite match, but hopefully I can at least get it so that it doesn't look obviously damaged.

I was told that this is a pattern that most people want to make again and again. I'm thinking I agree, and probably will make another one myself. But hopefully next time my iron won't attack the fabric I choose!

Sleeved and Sleeveless Sunshine

The weather is starting to cool down here, so I'm turning my mind to warmer clothing. A few of my basic long sleeve tops have been getting on a bit, and really need to be replaced. I probably should have made more last year but I couldn't find jerseys I liked, and tops aren't all that interesting to make so there was always something else to distract me. But when I was filling in time waiting for a bus I went into the op shop next to the station. It tends to carry fabric remnants alongside second hand clothes and I found this piece of soft lemon jersey for $1.80 (and a few other things I'll use at some point in the future). Score!

The piece of jersey was a reasonable size, about 140cm wide and the same length, so there was way more than I needed for a long sleeved top. So I decided that, given it's a good, soft, jersey, and a warm but not overwhelming colour, that I would make a simple shell top that can be either very casual or be dressed up a bit with a necklace and maybe a nice skirt and blazer.

Most of my t-shirts are band t-shirts, and half of those that aren't have lots of colour and big prints on them, so making something as plain as this is a refreshing change for me!

I didn't bother using a pattern for this, but I did base it on the fit of a jersey shell top I already owned. I didn't want it to be tight, but I wanted it to be fitted, so I took my measurements and then added a bit under an inch at the bust and hip, and an inch and a half at the waist. I marked these points on the fabric and then used my french curve to join the dots - I don't use the french curve a lot, but it is so useful to have, especially for drafting something like this! I cut the back piece a bit straighter than the front, so the front is more fitted.

You can also see that while the top is sleeveless, it is slightly capped. From the underarm I curved it up and out to about an inch wider than the bust mark. I also made the shoulder seam slightly sloped so that it would curve down with my shoulders rather than sticking straight out.

To finish the top off, I put a 1cm hem at the bottom and narrow rolled hems for the neckline and sleeve caps.

 So after I'd made the sleeveless version, I got on to making the long sleeved top I'd bought the fabric for. I used the exact same technique for drafting this as I did on the shell top, but I didn't narrow the front in at the waist quite as much, so the front and back pieces are essentially identical this time. The other change compared to the first top is the neckline: for this one the neckline is higher and rounded. Again, I couldn't be bothered using a pattern so I took my upper arm and wrist measurements and drafted the sleeves based on them.

When I first sewed this together, though, I found I'd made a stupid error - I'd made the shoulder seams too wide so the sleeves stuck way out. It looked like a bad 80s top I'd taken the shoulder pads out of. Not a good look. But fixing a too wide seam is easy, so I just took the sleeves off, cut a chunk off each side, and sewed them back on. They're actually still a few milimetres wider than I'd ideally like, but they're much better than they were! They also ended up being bracelet length which wasn't what I planned, but I quite like the sleeve length. The neckline is again a rolled hem, and there is a 1cm hem on the sleeves and at the waist.

When I first tried sewing jersey, I used a straight stitch but quickly learned that wasn't a good idea. There's no give in the seams to match the give in the fabric, and it ends up being terrible. I've learnt my lesson now and always use a zigzag. Now sewing with jersey is easy, and I was able to whip up both of these tops in one afternoon! And in this lovely yellow, I can wear sunshine all year round.