A Completed Bronte

So this wasn't in the sewing plan however when this pattern was released I couldn't resist! Meet [Charlotte] Bronte!

Apologies for the distance shots - I was trying to keep the sunburn out of view!

 Made up in an Alexander Henry jersey knit, this is the softest fabric i have ever had the pleasure of putting next to my skin!

this was a metre long remnant I have had in my stash for about 6 months and was just waiting to be made into this top. There were vague musings that I would draft a tank top but I thought the fabric deserved something a little better...

This top included a lot of firsts for me:
1st time sewing a knit
1st binding
1st time using twin needle and proper stretch stitch

and all in I think it turned out pretty damn well! I also think this was a good fabric/pattern to try working with knits on because it was dark - any snags of the thread have been hidden! and the small issue I had with attaching the binding at the end is cleverly hidden by the overlap :p

These pics were taken after wearing the top to work all day and apart from a little drooping of the front neckline it kept its shape pretty well.

Clearly the other half never got the memo to tidy the house...

 I cut a straight size 14 with no alterations - and the fit was perfect! I could have cu a 12 but would have resulted in a tighter fit which I'm not so keen on in knits. I also made absolutely no attempt to match the pattern... haha I don't even think its possible with this pattern

I don't quite know whats going on with the hem on the right hand side there...

another first for this make - it was the first make on my machine since it was repaired! and its running like a dream! :-)

So i'm not sure when i'll make this up again but it certainly fills a hole in the wardrobe. I really like the style and think it could work well made up in a more plain knit.

Has anyone else made up the Bronte top?

Take care guys

JCS :-)

Finit! Mes Shorts Chataigne from Deer and Doe!

Well hello again blogging world! This has been a busy old week for me! I had a first draft finished of my next conference paper and am well onto my second. But enough of my day job...

So this week saw me hack my way (literally) through this lovely pattern for some tailoredish shorts Chataigne - brought to us by Deer and Doe. I cannot tell you how long I have been looking for this pair shorts for but when I found this pattern the other week I knew lifes problems were solved :p. I made view A although instead of invisible stitches for the cuffs I opted for some top stitching.

 

So after finding the patern I took a wee jaunt up town andcame across some wool fabric reduced to only £5/m, I bought 3m of it so expect this stuff to be making another appearance soon! I rather like this fabric and as you can see there is a bit of a pattern in it too.

Well I had 3 best friends whilst making these shorts:

My overlocking foot (the wool was rather prone to the odd frey! (and I dont yet have an overlocker)), my stitch ripper (more on that in a sec) and my invisible zipper foot! So I made a rather slight mistake and stitched one of the pockets onto the wrong side of the front panel... :-\ what a dumbass! haha however a glass bottle (ahem) of wine down I threw a hissy fit and left them languishing for an evening. I also managed to stitch the back on back to front. URGH! so yeah after picking out the stitches they kind of stretched an itty bitty. This kind of caused problems later attaching the waistband to the legs :-(. Im hoping this won't be too noticeable! What does anyone else do when working with wool? I thought of throwing them in the dryer however I didnt want them to frey or anything?!

so yeah that 3rd best friend - the invisible zipper foot. I tried an invisible zipper before but with only a regular zipper foot but if i ever give any advice - SPEND THAT £5er and BUY THE FOOT! ha. how much easier did this make the job.Well chuffed with the result!

I know the edge isn't quite straight but I'll take that!

Also mighty impressed with the end result with the lining in place. Totally going to try more invisible zips. just need a project! so now for the photo shoot...(My living room is a TIP!)

Its kind of hard to see coz its an AWFUL camera! My phone broke and a certain 'Best British Brand' 2014 airline broke my camera charger! Rage. But the fit was great - I cut a 40 and made no alterations.

I will definately be buying more Deer and Doe patterns!

JCS