paisley dress

I drafted this dress pattern months ago to wear to the wedding of dear friends. The idea was to practise drafting a pattern from scratch to fit me snugly. After a few adjustments it ended up fitting the dummy perfectly - if only the dummy could have fit the dress perfectly to me! It's a little gapey in the front shoulder. I might attempt some more adjustments with the steam iron, else I may never wear it again...Still, the paisley Liberty fabric is fab!

1960s Coat

Yet again I have been terrible at diarising my projects here, but I am going to try and be better... Over Christmas (can it really 6 months ago?) I set myself the challenge of making a winter coat. Just to make it a bit more tricky, I decided to use a Vogue pattern from 1960, which I found on Etsy. It required adjusting downwards by about 2 sizes and I also ended up adjusting the shoulders to make them less a bit less wide and slopey. There was also a lot of hand sewing required. I realised afterwards that these techniques are now done by machine! At least I learned some new hand stitches (even if I did lose 3 days of my holiday). 

I wore the coat a lot till spring came - I think because I love the wool fabric so much. It was from the Cloth House shop that has closed now. I do hope they still do some of the fantastic wool fabrics in the remaining Cloth House n47 shop at no. 47. 

Shirt dress pattern

I've got lots of projects to catch up on here. I finished this shirt dress pattern in August and this is the finished sample. It needs a bit of refinement and perhaps a bit less puff in the sleeves, but I have worn it loads and I'm generally really happy with it. I think this is one of the first patterns that I will try and make into a downloadable pdf. Now I just need to start taking decent photos...

summer top

 

This is last week's project; a summer top with button up front and racer back. I drafted the pattern based on my favourite vest top and I think it's a success, although it might be better in a jersey fabric and with a short button placket, so I might try some adjustments...

tiny dress

I made a tiny dress for a friend's baby using left over Liberty fabric. It is crepe and not at all suitable for a baby, but so pretty! Drafting baby patterns is lovely - so much quicker than the larger sort.

Pinked shirt-dress pattern

I drafted this shirt-dress pattern a few months ago and made up the dress in a huge rush because I wanted to wear something I had made myself to a friend's wedding. I didn't end up wearing it to the wedding (I was worried it was too see-through!) but I have worn it many times since - usually to work - as a blouse. I'm so pleased with how it turned out, especially the collar. I'm working on a couple of variations of this pattern at the moment.

Next time, when I am in less of a rush, I will line it and finish the sleeves properly with button up-cuffs. The fabric is from Liberty and has tiny carrots all over it.

more socks

 

 

It's true, knitting socks is addictive. Here is the second pair of socks that I have made using the Wiksten pattern from Made By Hand. These are for me!  I love the Koigu Painter's Palette yarn, which is just right for socks (it is not so fine that it takes a lifetime to finish a pair).  I'm a bit miffed with the toes on this pair, I ended up with a bit of laddering between the decrease stitches (last time the direction of my decreases were the wrong way round, but it worked out fine)so I might try a bit of adjustment next time....

(I think Bruce is keen for a pair of home made socks of his own - seeing as he is sticking his paw in every shot!)