Victoria Blazer Sewalong - 1

Exciting times. A new project and I'm not doing it alone! I'm joining in with a sewalong so hopefully I'll get a bit of guidance as we go. I was put onto By Hand London by an old friend via Facebook. The Victoria who designed this blazer is her niece. I'm not really a suit kinda gal but sometimes you want something to throw over an outfit to go to an event and I thought this might do the job.

I was very excited to get the patten through - it is beautifully presented in a little cardboard wallet and you even get a label to sew into the item once finished. I got my fabric from Pumpkin Patch in Hailsham. I saw the zebra print and knew straight awy I wanted it. i'm not quite bold enough to have that as the main fabric (maybe one day  ...) and they only had a limited amount of it so with that as my lining I went for a plain black outer. I had intended to make vesion 1 - full length - but my limited fabric means I'm going for cropped.

So sewalong episode 1 is tracing and cutting - all good so far. Looking forward to getting stuck into this.

Wrap dress - completed!

All done! Relatively easy sew, although preventing the fabric stretching was a challenge. I like it  ... I think it's a bit big but hubby thinks it's the right size. I guess I just like to show a bit more cleavage  ... And I think the sleeves feel a bit big.

Anyway, I do like it. The fabric works nicely - i think it will work well as a work dress, althpugh I may attack the neckline at some point.

It was a test for me though - do it the quick way and maybe get ot wrong or do it the long, slow way and get it right first time. I'm not a fan of basting but when it came to the neckline I felt I had to hand-baste as I think I used too much seam allowabce meaning I didn't have much to play with and just pinning made it look like it would end up significantly wonky.

Trousers - the epilogue!

Well, here you go. They've survived a trip thrpugh the washing machine and an ironing by hubby. Not bad eh?

Wrap dress

And so as one quest ends another begins.  I got this patten a long time ago with Sew magazine, bougt the fabric then wussed out of making it.  But with the confidence of the trousers behind me I feel ready to make myself something  .... And in theory  this should be easier than trousers!

It's a Simplicity pattern, 2369. I'm going for version B - short sleeves, just above the knee. So I pulled out the patten to look in detail and realised that the version I had didn't go up to my size. So I've had to buy the bigger version - anyone want the smaller one for P&P?

So I've traced and cut my pattern, and laid it out on the fabric. This is the nerve-wracking bit - cutting the cloth. What if I mess it up? What if I've got the wrong size? What if it's wonky?  ... Oh well, *snip*

Bunting

More bunting made for a friend's nursery - simple. Cath Kidson fabric as requested.

Trousers - the finale!

And they're all done! Woo hoo!  I think the button holes in the rear pockets are a little low and it took me ages to get round to hand hemming (tried machime hemming and looked awful!) but they are finished  ...

... And they look like real trousers. Hubby has worn them to work and everything! Whoop whoop.

And he's already said he wants a brown pair and a linen pair

Trousers 5

Almost finished  ...

Belt loops were traumatic! Had to cut them out and start again as I simply couldn't turn them through. Took me 1 1/2hrs just to make 6 belt loops - not even attach them  .... Just make them!

But rear seam now sewn, waistband on  ... They fit - hoorah! So, finishing touches to go:
* sew the belt loops up
* put in the fly button holes
* sew on all buttons
* hems

Getting there  ...