Tag: cotton

Blog

Gallery

A grey shirt with big shoulder energy

When I was looking for potential candidate patterns for Lestat’s pink silk satin blouse (worn with the corset in ep1), I came across Burda 06/22 no113, which looked like it had potential. On top of being a pretty standard button-down shirt pattern, it also had deep pleats across the shoulders which I thought might give me the look of broader shoulders that the actor has. The only thing the pattern didn’t have that I needed was an invisible button placket. Strangely, the ONLY pattern in my stash to have one was from Burda 12/23 no106 so I grafted that onto the other pattern.

Then I needed a fabric to create a wearable muslin from. I didn’t have a plan for a ~1.8m cut of dove grey cotton(? a burn test indicated it’s entirely natural fibres) shirting from the IWTV props auction so it seemed like a good use for it here. The colour is pretty drab, and I thought about adding some fluorescent stitching details to liven it up a bit but ultimately decided against it. I traced both patterns in size 44 and it was easy to frankenpattern the invisible placket on by just aligning the Centre Fronts.

Gallery

Luscious lavender trousers

Like the matcha green shirt you saw earlier this week, this fabric was also a souvenir from the Atelier Brunette shop in Paris when we were there in February. I bought this 2.0m “Divine Parma” lavender cotton gabardine remnant for €32! This was an extra 30% off the already reduced remnant price, and it normally retails for £30/m, so I got quite the bargain on this.

I knew I wanted to make a pair of trousers with this fabric but I didn’t just want to default to the same TNT patterns I always use, so I had a browse through the past few years of Burda magazines that I couldn’t sew through while I was sick, and liked the look of Burda magazine 11/2024 no115.

Gallery

A hidden faces sweatshirt

I saw a couple of other people’s versions of the Just Patterns Sybil Sweatshirt come across my dash and I really loved the unique styling of the notched collar on a ponte/sweatshirt top. So I waited, and pounced when there was a storewide sale at the end of last year, and combined that with a sale on large format printing, too!

I’m glad I read other people’s comments before sewing this, because literally everyone says this is super oversized! I went down 1-2 sizes to a 42 instead, and tbh, I could’ve sized down even further because this still feels too big (especially in the sleeves and hips).

I used the “Peach Listening Face” brushed back sweatshirting I bought from Fabrics Galore in their end of year 50% off sale – my 1.5m was a bargainous £12 total! There was even some leftover because I opted to cut the collar from leftover black sweatshirting (also from Fabrics Galore) that I had leftover from my Lestat looming head sweatshirt. I love that this print looks like a leopard print from a distance, but the closer you get, you realise it’s a bunch of female faces!

Gallery

A blush pink Lara sweatshirt

I jumped all over the extremely cheap clearance blush Loopback jersey (French terry) and interlock jersey from New Craft House when I saw it marked down – £4.80/m and £3.60/m respectively! These are a beautiful pale peachy pink colour and are perfectly matching, so I knew they’d be perfect for sewing another comfy sweatshirt.

I opted for the FibreMood Lara sweatshirt pattern again, same as the black Lestat one I made last fall. This time I went down a size to L instead, tracing off another size from my pattern magazine. The design is meant to be oversized, and I love my black version, but for this I wanted it to be comfy without being overly baggy.

Gallery

A Halloween print Saraste dress

I’m no stranger to making clothing out of unexpected fabric sources – afterall, I was on the cover of the New York Times nearly 20 years ago with my shower curtain dress, but this is the first time I’ve sewn anything from a tablecloth!

When Flying Tiger released their seasonal Halloween stuff last fall, I might’ve gone a little overboard, but I have no regrets about buying this tablecloth – it’s 2.2m of 150cm wide 100% cotton fabric for £16! Even though it’s fairly thick and stiff, it was still a little too translucent for my taste so I paired it with a thin 100% cotton lining from New Craft House, 2m at £12/m.

Gallery

A naked ladies tee and red ramie Bob trousers

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…

Red ramie Bob trousers

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.

Article, Gallery

Sage green Aina trousers

In amongst the absolute frenzy of pattern sample sewing (the trisuit pattern is with testers now, for an estimated mid-June release!), I managed to squeeze in a small amount of Non-Work Sewing! Woohoo!

I’ve been wanting to sew the Named Aina trousers ever since they were released – I’m pretty sure I even bought the pattern on release day! I love that they appear to be a standard jean-like trouser from the front, but in the back they’ve got a half-elastic waist and tabs that extend around from the front to snaps. It means they still look like normal trousers, but have some elevated details.

Gallery

My Monochrome Birthday Rauha Tee

Today is my 43rd birthday!! (And THIRD pandemic birthday…)

I originally thought that this tee would be a practice garment for the dress version of the Named Rauha tee/dress, but after a bit of a fail in terms of both fabric/pattern and body/pattern suitability on the dress, I have upgraded this stash fabric tee to be my birthday make for this year, because I love it! And seriously, is anything more 2022 than making the best of a disappointment and pivoting to something better??