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Two more Pietra shorts

While many of my tops from before Covid still fit me, the same cannot be said for trousers or shorts. I haven’t been able to fit into my jeans (which were hardly tight pre-Covid!) since last Fall, and I really only have three pairs of trousers that fit comfortably, all of which I’ve made in the past few months.

None of my previous shorts fit at all, though, so with summer approaching I found myself in desperate need of sewing some more. We had a brief warm spell in May or June (? time has no meaning anymore) so I got my old favourite Closet Core Pietra pattern printed again. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about this pattern by now, as I believe these are my 5th and 6th pairs of the shorts version alone! And this isn’t even counting the pairs of Pietra trousers I’ve made…

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A sporty navy skort

Even though my Long Covid means I’m unable to exercise or develop new patterns (as well as other work), I obviously still have a very keen interest in activewear so I was delighted and intrigued to get the chance to try out the new Cashmerette Wickham Skort pattern that was released this month to their Cashmerette Club members.

It’s a pattern for close-fitting, cycling shorts with an optional side pocket (similar to our Duathlon Shorts pattern), plus a skirt with a wide waistband. You’ve also got the option to sew them separately or together in the form of a skort. Since being stuck in bed ~20hrs a day for the past 9 months has caused my waist to be 20+cm larger than before, I can no longer fit into any of my previously shorts or trousers. We’ve got a short holiday in France coming up and I thought that this skort would be a nice option just for casualwear this summer even if I can’t exercise yet.

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Designer leather waist pack

A few months ago I visited a good friend who used to work in the fashion industry. Since she doesn’t sew anymore, she ends up gifting me with random jewlels from her stash that I graciously accept. This time around there were some small offcuts of an Alexander McQueen leather! It’s a pale peach-pink with a white crackle top, and the pieces were all fairly small.

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Many vampire bat gifts

First of all, I must apologise because I am SO far behind on blogging my makes, but I’m trying hard to catch up. The problem is that I have such limited energy for sitting up that I’ve got to ration it, and when I do, I tend to want to actually sew than sit at my laptop and blog! So I’ve got well over a month worth of makes to show you, and only two weeks before we go away on a short break, so I may just end up taking photos while we’re away to make it a bit easier.

In any case, today’s round up contains a LOT of makes, some of which stretch back into March, eep.

So many bat plushies!

It all started when I saw this BeeZee Art Bat Plushie pattern and posted it to my vampire Discord, where everyone went nuts over it. Which prompted me to buy the pattern and make it for myself, and then a few for friends, and now I’m at the point where I’m pretty much making these for all my friends’ birthdays, hahah!

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Black linen Bob trousers & a slate blue Versatili-Tee

I’m still not sure whether I actually like this design of trousers or not, but my previous StyleArc Bobs are one of like three non-legging bottoms that still fit and aren’t uncomfortable, so making another pair was a necessity sew.

My waist is 20cm larger due to being mostly stuck in bed for the past 8 months, but I hope to not be like this indefinitely. As a result, I don’t want to sew much for this body. I’m kinda thinking of this as a “loaner body” while my real body is in the shop getting fixed, so I’m basically sewing the bare minimum that I need, unless it’s something that will also fit my real body later (like teeshirts and the cropped Hamilton jacket I’m working on).

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A Birthday Cat Saraste Top

It’s my 45th birthday today!! It’s not been a great year, tbh, with a truly horrific last 6 months, but to quote my friend Louis de Pointe du Lac, “A shit life beats no life.” And maybe this birthday will mark the start of a fresh new year, eh?

If you’re a long-term reader, you’ll know that I always like to sew myself something special for my birthday. With gaining so much weight from Long Covid, I wanted to sew something that would fit me now and still fit me when I go back to my usual body size. The Named Saraste Top from their “Breaking the Pattern” book is one of my favourite ever patterns, so it was a natural choice. There’s mix and match pieces here that allow you to make a dress, shirt, or top with varying pieces. Here I used the body of the Top minus the ruffles, with the collar from the Shirt & Dress, and short sleeves from the Solina pattern.

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A celestial Gina tee

I own the very first Fibre Mood magazine but for some reason I’ve never made any of their patterns before. But when I saw this latest issue I bought it immediately and as soon as I got home from Cornwall I traced off four patterns from it – I want it all!! I even splurged on the viscose/wool jersey shown on the cover!!

To ease myself in to a new pattern brand, I thought I’d start with one of the tees. You can either buy the whole Fibre Mood 03/24 magazine like I did (and trace off the patterns from the sheets), or you can buy any of the patterns individually as pdfs, too.

I’m going to make the other tee for comparisons’ sake (also against a recent Burda mag tee), but I started with the Gina tee. It’s a boxy tee with slight, cut-on sleeves and cuffs and a wider than usual neckband.

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Midnight blue Moji trousers

Sometimes my sewing starts with a fabric. Other times it starts with a specific pattern. But this time it started with a wardrobe need – after 6 months of Long Covid spent almost entirely in bed, I have very few trousers that still fit me and I desperately needed more.

Since the Seamwork Moji trousers I made back in 2020 are one of the few that do still fit, I pulled that out again to make another pair rather than have to print, adjust, and tweak a whole new size or pattern.

When I I originally made this pattern I made heavy modifications to this pattern, so definitely read that post if you like this style because there’s easier shortcuts available now!

The only thing I don’t like about the previous pair is that the CB rise is still far to low and they give me “plumber butt” that I’m constantly hoiking up. So before I cut these out I added 7cm to the CB to stop the “plumber butt”, and also added 3cm length to the hem.

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Holiday lingerie sewing

We recently spent a week down in our favourite corner of Cornwall, but instead of staying with friends, we ended up renting a house for the week. J worked at a local coworking centre for a few days (The Workshed in Liskeard – highly recommend! Friendly, great space, super affordable, and extremely safe air quality!), but as I’m still on sick leave with Long Covid, I’d be alone in the house for three days.

For some this might seem boring but to be honest I was really looking forward to the quiet, and it gave me an opportunity to bring my JL Mini (which John Lewis no longer makes! Boo!) travel sewing machine along and do some sewing while I was there.