Completed: Coral Plantain...

Hi Friendlings, May the Fourth be with you! I hope you are enjoying your Monday, bank holiday for us Brits so we have spent it painting the kitchen almost exactly the same colour it started! 

(Well half of it was blue FYI.)

Anyhoo I'm pretty pleased with it and i'm pleased to say that the sewing drought appears to have broken!

Behold, yet another Deer and Doe Plantain!

I know I know, all the cake, never the icing! Well dear hobbitses, I really love cake and with my new job i'm finding this whole workwear thing particularly tricky to negotiate. This top could go under a cardigan and sneak its way in to work in disguise. I actually got a compliment on my green plantain at work the other day so I will keep these in wardrobe rotation until they fall apart. 

This i'm afraid, means I will indeed be sewing more of them.

This was all done on the overlocker and I have for now left the sleeves and hem with an overlocked edge. I love the shape of Plantain. Not too low, not too short, overall pretty awesome for my body shape which I would currently describe as "podgy".

This is a cheapo jersey from fabricland and  I love the textural aspect of it. It has tiny punctured waves which means it can be a little indecent without a vest top which I am of course wearing (scoundrels!) 

Stats time!

Fabric: Jersey from Fabricland £4 per metre so call it £6

Pattern: Plantain used before £0

Notions: £0

Total: £6

Wearability: 9/10 Simply because I have to bother with a vest top underneath.

Pixel wanted in on the action as per usual. He's been asleep on the painting dust sheet most of the day. But here he is doing his best impression of a sniffer dog.

The Long Silence...

 

Good afternoon lovely blog readers! Well, this is awkward, no posts since October and no real excuse... Ok. So lots of bloggers have a bit of a silence over Christmas but this might be taking the biscuit. So I thought you deserved a little life update:

• New job? Going swimmingly thank you, but increased responsibility has meant some extra long hours, I don't mind but when I come home I tend to crash.
• Driving? I got my first car over Christmas which means I am finally free of public transport! Should be a time saver!
• Allotment! I became the new owner of an allotment over the Autumn and boy is that a time suck! But I'm already in love with it and the excercise won't kill me.
• House? Still a million and one things to do no moneys to do it with
• Teaching! I have a few regular students which I am really happy about but again it's the time that takes up on top of my 9-5. 

All in all this has meant pretty much zero selfish sewing. This makes me sad and I do feel guilty for not keeping up with my commitments. But something had to give. At the moment my overlocker is in for service, hopefully having it back will renew my vigour. 

Do you ever feel guilty about how you divide up your time?

Completed: Autumn Leaves Coppelia

God I love Autumn! Boots, crunchy leaves, pumpkin flavoured stuffs, tights and of course cardigans!

I have never been a Summer girl. Too much flesh to bare for me, I much prefer the comfort of layers and the warmth of the fire. Time to show you my new Coppelia cardigan! Much improved from my first attempt this is made from a wool blend jersey in my favourite shade of mustard! 

This colour reminds me of those beautiful yellow leaves that fall off the trees before they turn auburn and crunchy. Such a happy colour!

I made a few changes this time but I'm sure I could use a few more, this is Coppelia lengthened by 4 inches. I find the previous version added far too much bulk to the smallest part of my waist making me look very square. I didn't shorten the ties on this one as I did in the previous I need all the wrap I can get! I also left off the cuff as I naturally roll my sleeves up most of the time, I didn't feel I really need it but I have them cut incase I change my mind.

By the way, how perfect are these shoes? They match beautifully and I can see myself wearing this to work with some black slim pants. The fabric is a beautiful wool blend from Ditto in Brighton. Expensive for me but I squeezed this out of 1.5 metres which was a bit of a struggle, but it made it affordable.

 Here is what I'm going to do differently next time:

• Re-locate the wrap ties - Now its longer its not as flattering wrapped at my hips I'd like them more around my waist. I can wear it like this but theres a weird cross at the back.
• Cut 2 sizes smaller! My sleeves are massive and I overestimated the weight of this jersey. There is a lot of stretch and paired with the raglan sleeve this makes for a kind of batwing effect. I don't mind it being snuggly but I'm hoping it might need to do a bit more shrinking in the wash.

 

Stats:
Fabric: 1.5 Wool Blend Jersey from Ditto in Brighton £9.99 pm
Notions: From Stash £0.00
Total: £14.98
Wearability: 8/10
If I made the changes I listed earlier this would totally be a ten. This colour is super flattering to my "Wednesday Adams" toned skin and will look great with my work wardrobe and my home wardrobe!

How about you readers? Are you Autumn people?

Minerva Blogger Network: New Look 6922...

Hi guys! Here is my September Project for Minerva!
I love this time of year in England. The leaves are turning but the light is still beautiful, its not too cold and I get to pull out warmer clothes!

This is New Look 6922. Long time readers of my blog will recall a phase I went through making the top from this pattern 4 or 5 times! Its a great separates pattern and I always wanted to try the cardigan. I love the shawl collar and tied waist. Whats even better is there is no closures!

As soon as I saw the kingfisher blue ponte on the website I thought it was perfect. I've already sung the praises of this ponte before, using it for my coco dress! Its a lovely weight, but sadly a little too bulky for the collar. It has a tendency to roll so its tacked in place!

It has already become my go to cardigan when I want a bit of warmth. Its also easy to dress up with a nice pair of slim trousers and some ballet flats. Which is probably how i'll be wearing it to work! It reminds me a little of those 1920's cardigans, often a little longer with the shawl collar. I made the tie a little shorter just because of fabric restrictions but otherwise its straight out the packet!

 I have finally got round to sorting my remote out for my camera so these pictures are all me! No photographer needed. This is actually taken in my sewing room and I was super pleased with these photos until I noticed that damn box lid in the corner! Also trying some more fashiony poses, I quite liked the one above! I'll have to work ways to hide the remote itself, any advice bloggers? Where do you hide your remotes?

 Back to my cardigan! I can see myself making it again but not for a little while, its not a style I could have in every single colour. Its a great wardrobe builder though and so speedy to make! Next time I will nip the sleeves in a bit from the elbow and perhaps forgo the facing as all it seems to want to do is reveal itself to the world and I think the bulk it creates outweighs its benefits.

I have more Autumn based posts coming up! What is your favourite season?

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Completed: True Bias Hudsons...

Hello all! I hope your still out there after my slight name changeover! Most Blogger followers were transferred over but you may have to re follow on Bloglovin.

Anywhoo, I'm here to show you my latest make, the Hudson pants from True Bias!

These are made in a grey loop backed sweatshirting and my god they are comfortable!

I have a few fit things I would like to address with the next pair but for loafing around the house they are brilliant!

They fit nicely on the hips but the rise is too low for me, not only is it a bit unflattering but I feel I have to hoik them up every now and again! I chose not to use the cuffs and they are just the right length. I'm not sure if a cuff would be flattering on my "carrot" shaped bottom half.

I love love love the pockets and I felt a plain grey needed a pop of colour so I went with a neon pink cord.

 Due to said carrot legs, the knees are pretty baggy, this is not unexpected as I have this problem with rtw as my thigh and knee measurements are dramatically different with not much space between, being a short ass and all. In this pair it doesn't worry me, I could tweak them but with the weight of the fabric and the low rise all dragging it down its not worth it on this pair. They are house sweats anyway.
Now I'm sorry to have to talk about the "C" word but the crotch is uhhh interesting. This is to do with the rise again I have a lot of bagginess in the hip area but only when they slip down. I'm hoping if I fix the rise it will help.
Overall this was a good, quick, easy pattern and with a nice comfy modern outcome and I intend to make more!

Stats:
Fabric: Loop back sweatshirting with slight metallic thread 3m purchased 1.5 used £6
Notions: Thread/ Pink Cord and Elastic -£4
Pattern: True Bias Hudson PDF $10 about £7
Total: £17

Wearability: 7/10 Some things to work out but overall comfy and fit for purpose. The costs seem a bit higher than recent projects but as I will use the pattern again Its not bad.

How did you fare when making Hudsons?

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