Sometimes I plan my sewing in advance. Other times, I see a pattern or a fabric and I just instantly want to make it. I can’t even say exactly what it was about the Thorndike Tank (the Cashmerette Club pattern for July) – it’s just a basic woven shell top, really – but when it dropped it just felt right to sew it.
It didn’t hurt that I had the perfect fabric already in my stash – 1.5m of Mind the Maker “Splash” viscose in Mint, bought from the Village Haberdashery (RIP) in June 2020 for £30.
I’ve been planning this shirt for a few weeks, but it was serendipitous that I already had the perfect fabric in my stash – some leftover black bamboo jersey from Fabrics Galore. The 2.5m I bought ended up making my Paris Sucks Versatili-Tank, the Dead Inside tank for my friend AND this tee! So it was excellent value on top of being perfectly soft, and somewhere between a viscose and cotton jersey in terms of weight and drape.
This time around, I printed off a Loose Fitting Top Block from “Sew Your Own Activewear” in size XL (shortened a bit to match the length of the Versatili-Tops, which I prefer). I’d have made a Versatili-Tee again but I knew I wanted wide writing on the back and didn’t want the back seams interfering with the vinyl.
This might possibly be the world’s longest UFO!
I bought this fabric at a fabric shop in San Cristobel de las Casas when we toured around Mexico in 2013! To my credit, I tried to turn it into a skirt at least twice, with the latest iteration using a Burda magazine pattern with a scooped hem and loads of shirring at the waist. I did the shirring at the Sewing Weekender in 2018, back when it was in person! But no matter what I did, it just looked deeply unflattering.
I’m posting a little out of order here since I sewed these before the broderie anglaise tee! I’ll start off with the Bob trousers since I actually made these first – at the start of June, but then it was far too hot to actually wear them for a photoshoot…
If you recall, I’ve sewn the StyleArc Bob trousers twice before – first in brown linen, and then again in black linen. The black linen was far too thin and those wore out way too fast, but the brown Raystitch linen lasted much longer (such great quality!) but even they have been declared dead after multiple patches on the inner thighs and hips.
I’ve got a few garments to share over the next few days/week, but I wanted to start this off with a shorter post about a top I made with leftover fabric, but also a health/Long Covid update (scroll down to the photos if you don’t care!).
Ok I didn’t lie when I said in the last post that those were my last vampire shirts for a while… because I already had the vinyl cut and weeded for these by that point, and these were always planned. I just needed to make the shirts for the vinyl to go onto!
Believe it or not, I didn’t actually set out to post this on the same day that shooting finally (finally!!) begins on season 3 of Interview with the Vampire, but it just turned out to be a happy accident!
I sewed these at around the same time as the Dead Inside tank, but I separated that one out since I had a bit more to say. These three are all repeats of patterns I’ve happily sewn before though, so I’m grouping them together!
As I mentioned in my last post, I really needed a lot more sleeveless tops, as I only had one or two that still fit. I really loved the shape of the FibreMood Elza ever since I saw it in their magazine last spring, but I hadn’t quite gotten around to sewing it. I’d traced in size L then, though, so I had to re-trace it again in XL now – not a huge deal since it’s only four pattern pieces.
I had 1m of Ivory Ribbed Jersey in my stash that I apparently bought from Textile Express for £5 this time last year (it’s £3/m now?!). It’s soft and drapey with decent recovery and I like the uneven rib. But it was just sold as “multiple fibres” (polyester & viscose I’d guess?), it picks up lint like a magnet, and is definitely translucent. So it was a good fabric to test this pattern, especially as I’m not sure I’d like the narrow front tank style.
After I sewed The Kiss dress, I had a fair bit of fabric leftover, but it was in odd shapes due to the asymmetric cutting layout. It looked like I should be able to fit a teeshirt or a vest top (tank top) out of the remnants… and since I’ve got a lot of teeshirts that fit, but hardly anything sleeveless, I opted for the latter.
Jalie 3245 (View C) is an “oldie but a goodie”! I first made this pattern back in 2018 as part of my “Serging Activewear” Craftsy course (still going strong!). I’m still wearing those bamboo OGs, but they’re getting a little tight and they always felt a tad too long.
I actually made this jumper back in January, just after I sewed The Kiss dress! Despite wearing it several times each week through the colder weather, I just could not muster the enthusiasm to do a photoshoot. Rather than not post about it at all, I’ve taken photos on my dressform Susan instead.
I made this because I really needed more long sleeve jumpers that fit, and I wear my grey LB Pullover a lot over teeshirts through the colder months. That one was size 16, and since it still fits nicely, I’ve just done the same here rather than bother to print it off again.
