Heyday dungarees

There are quite a few dungaree patterns on the market these days but the comfy, casual look of Made By Jack's Mum's Heyday Dungarees won me over last winter. I was immediately drawn to their simplicity: 2 big pattern pieces for the front, 2 for the back and no fiddly fastenings so the dungarees can be pulled on without any need for zips or buttons. I also loved the square shape of the bib at the back (different from the usual angled straps) and the big, practical patch pockets.

For my dungarees I used a navy, stretch jumbo corduroy purchased online from Minerva Crafts last November (admittedly fully influenced by Vicky's lovely version here. Finding stretch jumbo corduroy is like the holy grail.) The fabric shed fluff *everywhere* whilst I cut and sewed it, but that thankfully stopped once all the raw edges were sealed by The Overlord (my overlocker.) It took a long time, and a lot of hoovering, to stop finding navy fluff all over my house!

Those big pattern pieces needed a lot of floor space to cut out. Also, say hi to my fun cow planter! She hadn't quite made it out to the garden at this point.

After initially cutting size S, basting it together and discovering it was too big I went back and recut the pieces to size XS. I really should have just cut the XS in the first place as that's where my measurements fell but I guess I was being overly cautious.
I made the following alterations:

• created a back facing to hide where the straps joined as the suggested finish would have looked lumpy in my fabric. (I referenced Pauline Alice's Turia Dungarees pattern for this as I've made them previously.)
• lined all the pockets with a cute floral cotton for a pretty detail and clean finish. I cut the lining fabric fractionally smaller to encourage it to roll inwards out of sight.
• added bias binding to the bib edges for a clean finish as the original finish, a double turned hem, would have looked seriously lumpy in my fabric.
• added 1/2" length to the bib.
• added 1" length to leg (I would have needed more had I wanted the turned up cuffs but I was happy without.) For reference I'm 5ft 7 and 1/2".
• sewed a 1/4" seam allowance around the crotch.
• added more thigh space by moving the inside front leg seam out by 1/8". (Ideally I'd have liked more but that's all I could get. I should have stayed at the larger size around the crotch.)
• scooped out the back crotch curve as it was hiking up my backside something chronic (possibly due to lack of front/inner thigh space? Any advice appreciated, trouser fitting still eludes me.)
• tapered in the waist seam by 3/8" for the first 4" then blended back down for the remaining outside leg seam. The original waist was comically large. Anybody tall standing next to me could have got an excellent birds eye view of my pants.
• used traditional dungarees buckles as I'm not a fan of looped ties.

Overall, I flipping LOVE these dungarees. I have worn them pretty much every week since finishing them last November other than the few weeks of summer we get in Scotland. They're a wardrobe hero. 

Pretty innards and a bunny brooch.

I'm aware I should have left the leg fit at the larger size as the back crotch and inner thigh area are definitely not right but luckily there's enough stretch in my fabric for this not to be a big problem. It's also something I can hopefully fix on my next pair.

Yup, you better believe it, I have plans for an improved second pair. Maybe even a third. I'm pretty obsessed with my navy dungarees. I'm also so glad I made them in my favourite neutral colour as they go with EVERYTHING. Well done me for finally making a neutral! 👏😁

Some extra thoughts on the pattern:

• I personally feel it could benefit from bigger seam allowances (the pattern uses 3/8") just to help with fitting alterations.
• it could also benefit from some notches since the pattern pieces are so large. It would make matching up seams easier and more precise.
• the finish for the straps and edges are a bit bulky and unrefined, especially if using a thicker fabric. There's nothing particularly wrong with them and they are beginner friendly, but there are cleaner ways to do them.
• if you're taller than me and want the turned up trouser cuffs you'll need to add a good few inches to the leg length.

Seagull top

This was a project where I had a specific vision of what I wanted but didn't have an exact pattern so I amalgamated 3 together: the Simple Sew Shannon body and neckline with Tilly And The Buttons Agnes sleeve but with the sleeve head curve of the Sew Over It Molly. Nothing ground breaking but I'm pleased to report my Shan-agn-olly hybrid worked.

I remember admiring this print online two years ago but was on a self imposed fabric-buying ban whilst renovating my little house. Imagine my delight when I discovered it was still available last summer! I snapped it up (along with a few other jerseys, obviously!) and sewed it up pretty much immediately. It's such a fun print and makes a nice change from all my stripey tops.

Worn with my bargain £2 Topshop skinny jeans from the charity shop.💪

My only minor disappointment is the sleeve length which is entirely my fault as I trimmed too much off. If I make another Shanagnolly I'll add an extra 1/2 inch length back as I find the sleeves creep up past my wrist bone when I lift/move my arms. I like my sleeves to be LONG.

I truly love this top though. The jersey is gorgeous quality; a hefty medium weight organic cotton jersey. I also love that I can now camouflage in my bathroom.

I have a sizeable chunk of this fabric left over and am now pondering whether I need some seagull underpants. Everybody needs seagull underpants, right?

Tiny clothing and a Tilly Agnes nursing top

Last summer brother no.2 and my sister in law had their first baby (a little girl, my first niece.) I had discovered a few baby garment patterns online earlier in the year so thought it would be fun to sew some tiny clothing for the new addition to the family.

The patterns I used were Patterns For Pirates' Petite Pegs, Wee Lap Tee and Teeny Beanie hat which are all free to download when you sign up to Patterns for Pirates' website. They're really lovely patterns which go from size preemie up to 1 year old. The instructions and pattern layout are also very clear and thorough. I think it's really generous for the designer to offer all this work for free.

 

The parents didn't know the sex of the baby before hand so rather than pick standard, gender-neutral baby fabrics I thought it would be fun to pick ones which reflected each parent's character and interests: a guitar theme for Dad and cute dogs for Mum. I made size 3-6 month for the guitar outfit and size 6-9 month for the dogs. The guitars and stripey fabric were purchased online from Lily and Mimi (both organic cotton, I think) and the dogs and sprinkle fabric came from My Fabrics.

 

 

These outfits were so cute to put together. A little bit fiddly when it came to the bindings and hemming sleeves, but the results are lovely. I recommend batch cutting a few at time as you'll likely not want to stop at one outfit.

 

Look how adorable those tiny ears look on that hat!

I love how economical it is to make baby clothes, it only takes 1/2 metre cuts to make outfits. Perfect for using up jersey scraps or a great excuse to buy those lengths of ridiculously cute fabric which you love but know you won't wear. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who suffers with that? 😁

After the success of the tiny clothing my sister-in-law joked how cute it would be if she had a matching outfit. As her birthday was coming up I offered to make her a breastfeeding-friendly top in the dog fabric.

I had seen maternity and nursing hacks of Tilly and the Buttons Agnes top online and already had the pattern in my stash so I took my sister in law's body measurements and set to work. I followed this particular tutorial for a wrap over underlay which I thought was nicer than just a broad overlap as it preserves more modesty whilst feeding. I could have crossed over the wrap a bit further but I've been informed it functions fine. I also raised the neckline and recut a new neckband (personal preference for the wearer.)

Can I just say how stressful and nerve-wracking it is sewing clothing for other people? I can't say it's something I want to do too often (non sewing people rarely understand the level of effort and time involved) but in this instance it was absolutely worth it. She absolutely LOVED her top and has worn it loads. It fit lovely, the hack worked well and she looked adorable twinning with her daughter. All the mums at her mother and toddler group kept asking where they could get matching outfits. 😁

Ballet wrap fail

Last June I purchased Simplicity 8424 from the John Lewis haberdashery whilst visiting friends in Edinburgh. I had been after a ballet wrap top for a while, partly because I thought it would look cute with fit and flare dresses but also because I thought it might be nice to wear to my (beginner) adult ballet classes. I was originally considering the Seamwork Elmira wrap but when I found this Simplicity pattern and saw it also offered two extra tops and leggings I thought it would be a better investment.

Sadly I did not get along with this pattern. I ended up with a wearable wrap of sorts but there are issues.

 

I measured between a S and M in the sizing chart and decided to cut the M so I had more wiggle room for adjustments. Alterations off the bat included lengthening the ties by 1ft so they could tie in a bow rather than just a knot, lengthening the sleeves (I'm not a fan of 3/4 length) and lengthening the bodice by an inch. I usually have to add bodice length to patterns but wasn't sure where to add length on this style of bodice so I split the length between the waist and hem.

The resulting top was huge in the body and pretty much unwearable. I really should have picked the smaller size considering the amount of positive ease drafted in "Big 4" patterns. So I carefully unpicked all the pieces (unpicking lightning stitch is not fun) and recut the top a size smaller.  Alterations this time included:

• keeping the shoulder width of the size M to accommodate my broad shoulders.
• adding 1/2" length to the body and a few inches to the sleeves (I forget how much.)
• lengthening the ties by 1ft, same as my first attempt. I also angled the ties to a point for the last few inches as I felt this looked more attractive when tied.
• took in the side seams by a further 1/4"
• moved the edge with the ties inward by 3/4"!

For reference my measurements at the time were B35", W27", H37" and I'm 5ft 7 and 1/2" tall.

I totally disregarded the pattern instructions as they were unnecessarily complicated. Inserting jersey sleeves in the round using ease stitches?! NOPE. Not happening.

The instructions also say to sew the elastic to the bias cut wrap edge of the bodice after assembling the top. Surely it makes more sense to do this step first before attaching the shoulder seams otherwise the bias will stretch out from handling?

Worn with my much loved navy Kitschy Coo Lady Skater dress.

Although wearable the wrap is still too low and doesn't actually wrap over much. I think the crossover needs to be higher so it crosses just under the bust. I either need to remove the extra 1/2" length I added to the body or go down ANOTHER size as the whole thing still looks and still feels too big. When I lift the shoulders the wrap sits better. 

Here you can see how the wrap doesn't lie completely flat. The ripple isn't awful, but it's there. As well being too big and long in the body it's possible the bias edge stretched out when I unpicked the first incarnation of this top despite trying to do it really carefully.

Fit across my massive shoulders looks fine though.

The top is just about wearable as it is and I did wear it a few times last summer but I have to admit it hasn't seen any wear this year. Every time I've pulled it out the drawer and tried it on I've felt disappointed with the fit and taken it off again. Sadly I feel I've wasted this lovely raspberry pink jersey (incidently also bought in Edinburgh but on a different trip.)  If it keeps seeing no wear I think I'll have to pull it apart and cut out a couple of pairs of cute underpants from it, just so I get something more wearable from this jersey. 

Juries out whether I'll attempt this pattern again. I do have another (less precious) jersey suitable for it as I still want another wrap cardigan, it's just whether I can be bothered retracing this pattern a third time. Good job I'm a tracer not a cutter! The other option is to scrap it and try the Seamwork Elmira. If anybody has tried the Elmira I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Stripey Molly

After the roaring success of my Simple Sew Shannon t-shirt I felt compelled to make a jumper (sweater) with a similar dropped shoulder. The Sew Over It Molly top had been on my radar for a couple of years and after discovering (through Ruth, I think) the pattern could be downloaded separately for free from the rest of the Sew Over It "Capsule Collection" I quickly printed it off and set to work.

Only the layplan was available as far as I could tell, so there were no instructions or mention of what seam allowance to use (I assumed 5/8" after comparing it to a couple of other jersey top patterns I own.) This would definitely be off-putting for beginners, but if you've already made a few jersey tops you'll be fine. Or perhaps the instructions were there all along and I was being stupid.

The fabric I used is an organic cotton interlock jersey leftover from a Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress I made around 5 years ago (my first foray into jersey sewing if I remember correctly.) It's a lovely weight for a comfy dress or jumper and it has proven to wash fairly well over the years too.

As always I made a few alterations. This included:

• lengthening the sleeve by 1/2" (As much as my fabric would allow.)
• sewing the sleeve on with 1/2" seam allowance (for more sleeve length)
• shortening the neckband due to my fabric not being that stretchy or having great recovery.
• sewing a narrower seam allowance on the arms as I found them quite tight. Gotta give the Hulk biceps some space!

For reference I measured B35", W27", H37" at the time, I'm 5ft 7 and 1/2" tall and I cut out a size 10.

The resulting jumper is comfy, relaxed and I absolutely love the dropped sleeves. The directional effect of the striped fabric looks great in this sleeve style. The body is also a nice length (I didn't lengthen it and I usually add it to patterns) and the curved hem is an attractive detail.

My only disappointment is that the neckline feels very wide. I think my fabric must have stretched out when I was faffing about with the neckband length as other versions I've seen online haven't looked this wide. I'd consider going down a size in the neckline and body next time if making in a thinner t-shirt jersey, but for a thicker jersey like this the roomy, relaxed fit is nice.

From behind you can see how wide it is in the body. Actually I'm quite surprised how roomy this top is considering I cut the second smallest size and I'm by no means a tiny person.

I'm definitely tempted to try the dress version as I think it'll be as easy to throw on as my Tilly Coco dress. I have suitable fabric for it but I'm torn between using it for this or a Sew Over It Heather dress, another pattern which has been on my radar for years. Or I could buy more fabric and make both. Oh what a burden to purchase more fabric. 😁

Simple Sew Shannon tee

This was the first item of clothing I sewed last year after moving into my little house. I had done pretty much no sewing the previous year (whilst I gutted and renovated the house) so despite being a basic t-shirt the project feels more special than usual.

Last summer I realised that I had a lack of casual, summery coloured t-shirts. Also just a lack of t-shirts that weren't striped. (Some may say addiction, I say collection.) I didn't feel like making another Tilly and the Buttons Agnes t-shirt as I wanted a higher neckline (I'm pale and burn ridiculously quickly) and just generally fancied making something different. After a quick rummage through my pattern stash I settled on the Simple Sew Shannon t-shirt which I got free with a sewing magazine a few years ago.

I was originally drawn to the cute nautical shorts when I got this pattern and hadn't really considered the t-shirt, so I'm amused that I ended up making the t-shirt first.

The finished t-shirt matches my yellow dinosaur socks. Yay! And you'd better believe I own more than one pair of dinosaur socks.

I wasn't entirely sure whether the grown on sleeves would work well on my broad shoulders but thought I'd chance it, especially since the fabric I intended to use was left over from a Colette Patterns Moneta dresses I made a few years ago, therefore it was basically free fabric.

Luckily, it turns out this sleeve style is awesome for broad shoulders. I love it! The t-shirt is casual without being shapeless and not having sleeves to cut out and sew was an added bonus. It was a quick project to make, even for a slow sewer like myself.

Here's a photo of it fresh off the machine. I'm afraid I never got around to taking better photos of it.

I cut a size 8 based on my measurements but used the shoulder width of size 10 to account for my broad shoulders, not that I think it was particularly necessary. Other alterations included adding clear elastic to the back shoulder to stablise the shoulder seam (which I'm surprised the instructions didn't recommend) and adding 2" to the body length after comparing the pattern pieces to other t-shirts I own. For reference I'm 5ft 7" and 1/2"

I wore this t-shirt a lot last summer and it has seen a decent bit of wear this summer too. In fact I wore it for a lovely walk on a very warm (for Scotland) day with my fella a couple of months ago. It was a great day out as I had my first paddle in the sea this year and I didn't burn thanks to lots of sun factor 50. Success!

 

 

Anyone else made this t-shirt pattern? I'm surprised I haven't seen many versions of it online as it's such an easy style to sew and wear. 

Hi!

Hi, welcome to my colourful sewing and knitting blog. You will find to no beige, minimalist garments here; only colourful and patterned clothing allowed.

In my natural habitat, fondling all the wool and fabric.

For the last 9 years I've been blogging at What Do You Make Of My Cake, a baking journal which gradually morphed into a general creative journal. The restrictive title eventually started to bother me so I've finally set up this separate space for my sewing and knitting projects.

I've been humming and hawing whether to publish this blog for public consumption for months but decided to bite the bullet today. Starting a new blog in 2020 feels like an odd move considering blogs are antiquated dinosaurs within social media and are generally dwindling, but damn it I like blogs. I like blogging. I like dinosaurs.

What else do I like? Cute and comfy dresses, skirts, dungarees and cosy knitwear, especially if there are vintage details. I finished watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix a few weeks ago and she's my current style icon. I basically want her entire wardrobe as she's so damn colourful and cute. 😂

I hope you enjoy this new space, feel free to say hi below. I already have a few posts lined up so watch this space over the next few weeks.

 

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