My Christmas make - a sneak peak...

After a busy couple of weeks at work, I've finally found time to blog! I have been sewing during this time and have been making progress on my WIP's. I may have been slightly over ambitious with the amount of garments I want to make before Christmas, I needed to make some decisions. So, I decided to prioritise my Christmas garment. 

I bought 2 metres of the Riley Bkake fabric above from modes4u.com a couple of months back and had originally planned to make a skirt with it - probably a Picnic Blanket Skirt. However, I had a bit of a change of heart. Although I like the picnic blanket skirts I have previously made, I'm not sure how they're going to cope with my expanding belly on Christmas Day! 

I didn't want to try a new pattern at this stage, so I started to consider a Mortmain by Gather. On a recent fabric shopping trip I bought some plain black cotton, which would compliment the festive fabric perfectly! This was the starting point I needed. The next decision I made was to add the sleeves to the pattern - my previous versions of this have been sleeveless. My final decision was patterned skirt, or patterned top... This is a tough one! 

Answer to follow once I'm finished! 

Second Picnic Blanket Skirt...

Whilst on one of my many recent trips to Sham Shui Po, I picked up this lovely little fabric. It has a woollen quality to it, which i'm guessing is acrylic and it has a random cream printed spot pattern on a lovely rich navy background. 

I made the easy decision to make a second Picnic Blanket Skirt. My first one was a very simple make, with a very effective outcome. This no pattern make by Tilly and the Buttons involves some simple measurements and only a few simple stages of manufacture - seam, placket, gather, waistband, buttonholes, buttons and finally hem. (See instructions here) This time I went with a dark wood button, which compliments the navy very well. 

As you can see, the fabric does crease when it's worn, but I think that this blends in with the overall aesthetic quite well. This skirt sits lower in the waist than the first one, which should suit lots of my existing tops. 

My next question is, do I make another Picnic Blanket Skirt, this time in Christmas fabric? 

Fashionary in action!

After two lovely public holidays and a weekend, it's back to a full week of work. No need to be down though because i'm accompanied by my trusty Fashionary! 

I have just downloaded the ever-so cool 'Coco' pattern by Tilly and the Buttons to expand my me-made wardrobe to include knitted jersey items. Also on Friday in a small fabric shopping spree in Sham Shui Po I picked up 2 yards of cream and navy interlock jersey for $20! A total bargain and perfect for my first Coco.

My job now is to plan which design of the Coco I'm going to make... I like the idea of 3/4 length sleeves as it will be more suitable for the Hong Kong weather and I always tend to roll up my sleeves anyway. Why waste precious fabric on long sleeves?! Turn-up or no turn-up, that is the question! Also, do I go for the straight forward boat neckline, or the sixties classic of the funnel neck? Argh... too many decisions!!! Ok, breathe... maybe i'll start plain and then move forward to a more complicated garment once I've got back into the groove of sewing knitted jersey fabrics. After all, the Coco could make up a significant number of items in a capsule wardrobe. 

There, the plan is formed. It's always better to talk things through before making a decision. Thank you blog! Watch this space for my Coco update. 

Colette Sorbetto - Part 1 - Toile and Alterations

Ok, so last night I started the process of making a Colette Sorbetto (click to take you to their page). It's a very simple downloadable pattern. It was a lot quicker to stick together than The Mathilde, but that's not surprising as there are only 2 pattern pieces! After a quick stick, I took some measurements and decided on the size I was going to make. I went for a 12 (american size) as it seemed like it would make a spacious summer top, which is very necessary in Hong Kong. 

Because the top is so easy to make and doesn't require much fabric, I decided to make a toile. This seemed sensible because I don't have enough of my new fabrics in case anything goes wrong. I decided to use some lovely red poly-cotton that I had left over from a Red Riding Hood fancy dress outfit (i'll leave it at that...). After sewing the centre pleat, darts, side seams and shoulder seams, voila, I had a toile of my Sorbetto. I tried it on straight away as I was very excited that I had just made a top in about 30 minutes! 

There were a few simple alterations I noted straight away - The dart was sitting exactly on the bust point, which isn't the most flattering, so I decided to make it 1cm shorter on my paper pattern. In addition to this, there was a slight amount of bagging under the arm and although this should be a fairly baggy top, it just wasn't right. I knew that adding bias binding to finish the top would enhance this. I decided to measure in 0.5cm from the armhole and remove a small triangle from the pattern. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Lastly, the whole thing was just too short. I have this whole long body thing going on, so I wasn't surprised. I decided to add 6cm to the length. I went for this much just in case. I can after all just cut some off if it is too long. 

I altered my pattern and am now ready to make my first real Sorbetto. I've decided on another nautical print, but before I can get started I need to do some shopping today. 

On my list I have...

• Red, white and matching machine thread to my fabrics. 
• White and navy bias binding (if possible). 
• 7 x 15mm buttons for my Mathilde.
• Some white invisible zips.
• A new pot of pins.
• A Bias binding maker. 

I am going to try Pottinger Street in Central for most of these goodies, I now that I can get most of what I need there. I will then go to Tailoring and Alteration in Causeway Bay to check out their bias binding makers. 

Fingers crossed that this is a quick process and I can get home to sew!

Getting Christmas ready...

What else to do on a T8 day off, but make Christmas stockings! Ok, so I had already started two stockings for the newcomers in my life, but I finally got round to finishing them. 

I chose this beautiful Red Norwegian Winter Essentials fabric by StudioE Fabrics. I bought this fabric from www.fabricrehab.co.uk, but it's available from Hong Kong based online fabric retailer www.modes4u.com. I went for wool felt for the lettering/heart shape and jumbo ric rac to bring it all together. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. These will be winging their way across the world to the UK in time for Santa to fill them up! 

The Mortmain by Gather - The finished article!

After about 4 hours work, i've completed my stripes and spots combo dress! I really love the combination of fabrics and the waistband in the same fabric as the skirt looks great! This dress is customisable because I chose to do my box pleats this way, although the pattern suggests the opposite way. 

This pattern is so simple to make and is suitable to use with so many fabrics. I bought it from www.fabricrehab.co.uk, which is a great website if you're happy to pay international shipping. I found the price ok and it arrived quite quickly after it had been dispatched. 

I'm looking forward to showing this outfit off in Shenzhen this weekend - Bring on the karaoke!

I've styled my outfit with the Tatty Devine lollypop necklace - the perfect accompaniment! 

Back to blogging...

After dabbling in writing a blog a couple of years ago, i'm back! This time with a new, more personal approach. I guess i'd better introduce myself... My name is Sophie and I'm a sewing addict (sounds a bit like AA, but it's that level of obsession!) . I live in Hong Kong and I love sewing! My sewing addiction is not limited to one area, I love pattern cutting, dress making, hand embroidery, machine embroidery and I adore felt making. I guess I'm what you would call an all-rounder. I have found that i'm sewing more frequently and thinking about it constantly (not ideal when you have a job!). I thought, why not try blogging again, so here I am.

Welcome! I hope I can help, inspire and fuel other sewer's love...