Nicole Needles

I Made a Dress For Absolutely No Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:31:00 +0000

* Disclaimer - this is a re-post of an older post that was completely messed up graphics wise. So apologies if you've seen this before!

Hello! Long time no see. I've been a bit lazy about blogging because of the quick hit provided but Instagram and the like. With blogging, it feels like I have to have a long involved background story to each project when sometimes I just don't.

So I'm not going to lie - I made this dress just because I felt like it. I didn't need it, it was probably a bit too late in the summer for it - but who cares! This was the pattern:

Butterick 5281 from 1946

I made view B in a Robert Kauffman quilting cotton which I picked up a few months ago in Manchester. And here it is:

I made this dress once before here, and even though I really like it, I was a little uncomfortable with the fit. I jigged around with the pattern again, and the result is a much better fitting dress.

It's kind of hard to see in this busy pattern, but the bodice has some asymmetrical draping with pleats at the right shoulder, and gathering on the left side seam.

With this version, I also made the effort to make a matching belt, using a little clasp from I found years ago in a charity shop:

I'm late posting about this dress - it was finished about 6 weeks ago - but the re-vamped fit has made it so comfortable that I wore it nearly every week until it got cold.

And that's it - see you soon!

I Made a Dress for Absolutely No Reason

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 15:22:00 +0000

Hello! Long time no see. I've been a bit lazy about blogging because of the quick hit provided but Instagram and the like. With blogging, it feels like I have to have a long involved background story to each project when sometimes I just don't.

So I'm not going to lie - I made this dress just because I felt like it. I didn't need it, it was probably a bit too late in the summer for it - but who cares! This was the pattern:

Butterick 5281 from 1946

I made view B in a Robert Kauffman quilting cotton which I picked up a few months ago in Manchester. And here it is:

I made this dress once before here, and even though I really like it, I was a little uncomfortable with the fit. I jigged around with the pattern again, and the result is a much better fitting dress.

It's kind of hard to see in this busy pattern, but the bodice has some asymmetrical draping with pleats at the right shoulder, and gathering on the left side seam.

With this version, I also made the effort to make a matching belt, using a little clasp from I found years ago in a charity shop:

I'm late posting about this dress - it was finished about 6 weeks ago - but the re-vamped fit has made it so comfortable that I wore it nearly every week until it got cold.

And that's it - see you soon!

Stocking Up on Seperates

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 17:49:00 +0000

I have been known to build outfits around very small things. Like a few buttons becomes a need for a dress, a pair of shoes needs new trousers or something, and so on. I bought this ring while on holiday in Los Angeles:

- and then I bought these boots from Ebay:

And - I came across this picture somewhere on the interwebs, and became obsessed with, of all things, the belt loops!-

Source

I noticed a western theme bubbling up. As luck would have it, I had these two pieces of fabric in my stash which I'd never quite found a use for:

I really wanted to make these into blouses, but looking at my wardrobe, I realised I also needed skirts to go with them. And it would give me a reason to make something with those belt loops! I had fabric left over from my Birkin flares, and some other black twill from a long ago project, enough for 2 skirts. And so 2 western-themed outfits were born!

Here's the first:

The blouse is Simplicity 3414 from 1950:

I made view 1 with short sleeves:

And added a subtle western touch with some top stitching and arrowhead tacks around the fabric channels on each side:

The skirt is a denim-weight black stretch twill, which is a hack of my self drafted pencil skirt, and a flared section taken from Burda 122 and added at the back:

I have worn this skirt constantly since I made it - it's like the skirt equivalent of a favourite pair of jeans. I added some denim details to it like topstitching, belt loops, and a jeans-style zip at the back:

Centre back fly zip

On to outfit number 2:

The blouse is Simplicity 6110, from 1973:

And the skirt is mostly Simplicity 6017, with pockets borrowed from Butterick 4990:

And with self drafted belt loops!:

I carried through the theme of topstitching and arrowheads on the inverted pleat at the front:

And that's really it! I'm off to listen to some Patsy Cline and eat some bbq. See you soon!

My Vintage Pledge for July - Leaving an Impression with Vogue 1054

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 20:52:00 +0000

Hello! Having agreed to sew something for the Vintage Pledge in July, it gave me a good excuse to make this pattern from my collection, Vogue 1084 from 1956:

I bought this pattern in a sale a while ago, then took it out from time to time to look at that lovely neckline. I have a thing about dresses with stuff going on at the back - don't know why! I think it's partly the idea of turning on your heel and swishing out of a room dramatically, and as you do your outfit makes a final statement as you leave. Not that I'm often in that situation, but I like to daydream...

Anyway, I also had this fabric from Ikea, which is part of their collaboration with Katie Eary:

Giltig fabric, by Katie Eary for Ikea

Have a look at the collection - there are some other brilliant fabrics, as well as some fab homewares. I bought the fabric on a whim, with no project in mind. It's a pre-cut piece of cotton, measuring 3 metres in length, 150 cm in width - what was I going to do with all of that blue leopard! It sat to one side for a little while, then the request for this July Vintage Pledge came along, and fabric and pattern seemed like the perfect combination

When I bought this pattern, I made a mistake and bought the wrong size - must've been tired or something... I bought size 6 - 12, but I'm more of a 14 really, so I graded it up then made a toile of the bodice just to be on the safe side. (I'll go into how I did that another time) I decided it fit pretty well! The only further adjustment I made was a slight sway back adjustment to the back bodice. Besides fitting, the toile was good practice for constructing the dress. Though it appears simple, there are a lot of details in the construction which you have to plan for, as it were, or else you'll be unpicking a great deal!

Here's what I mean in more detail:

I've circled the areas where you have to take extra care!

Because the sleeve is cut in one with the bodice, on the front you have to reinforce with a small machine stitch, then snip into the bodice to make attaching the side front easier. I also ironed a little patch of interfacing to these snipped areas for extra reinforcement.

The interfaced corner on the inside of the bodice

Then on the back, when sewing on the facing, you have to 'interrupt' your stitching along the neckline when you reach the armhole and shoulder seams. This makes it all easier to turn and lie flat.

So other than having to take extra care over where some seams meet and the facing, the rest of the dress goes together pretty easily.

There's a cute little bow at the back which slots through a gap in the centre back seam:

The circumference of this skirt is huuuge!

I was considering being lazy and just machining it, but the stitching just stood out too much. I bound the edge with bias tape, then spent an evening slip stitching it in place:

I also bound and hand stitched the sleeve hems:

The instructions don't call for any lining; I generally don't line the bodices of dresses because I don't like the feeling of all those layers. To keep the insides neat I used French seams where possible, and overlocked the rest:

Centre front is a French seam

But I almost always line the skirt. I wanted to add some extra fullness to this skirt, especially at the back, so I added a gathered frill at the hem of the lining. Luckily this lining was only £1 per metre - I think most of the 3 metres I bought went into this frill!:

But it was worth the effort - it provides extra swishi-ness and the skirt is the right amount of full without being too puffy. And using the rolled hem on the overlocker made it so quick and neat.

I can't wait to find an excuse to wear this dress - luckily I have a wedding to attend in August, so it will get an outing then. Otherwise, I might just wear it to Sainsbury's, I love it so much!

See you soon!

Frivolous Frills

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 19:51:00 +0000

Hello! I have tons of clothes, and really have no need to make any more except for the reason that I feel like it and enjoy it. It keeps me out of trouble! I usually see something in a film, or something pops up on Instagram that takes my fancy, or I buy some random fabric and then have to think of something to make with it. My imagination will be sparked, out come the patterns, and away we go.

It was a combination of these events that resulted in the latest dress. First, I've been really taken with all the off the shoulder styles that are around at the moment; I particularly liked the tutorial that By Hand London put together showing you how to draft your own.

Next, I've always wanted to make this pattern from my collection:

Simplicty 4669 from 1954 (image from Vintage Patterns Wiki)

I had an idea that since the straps on this bodice seem to sit on the edge of the shoulder, this would somehow work well with a ruffle or frill.

And finally, I had a big piece of this polka dot fabric in my stash:

I think I got it from Ikea many moons ago; I don't remember how much it cost, but it can't have been much!

I decided to make view 1, with the body in plain black, and with the neckline frill and some extra hem frills in the polka dot. I bought some cheap-as-chips black twill from Walthamstow market and started working on the bodice.

But as I was working on the bodice, I went off the idea of a full skirt. I often feel a bit swamped in a full skirt; I think pencil or just slightly flared suit me.

Out came what is starting to become my old stand by, Butterick 8571:

I've used this skirt here, here, and here - I find it just works for me. But I wanted to tie it in with the frill. At first I was going to add another polka dot frill at the hem - but no, just too much. I decided to draft some pockets with flaps at the hip to tie it all together:

Everybody loves pockets, right?

Close up of the left hand pocket, with the hand picked zip

Excuse the rubbish bathroom selfie, but the dress is actually quite nice in this plain version - maybe a future project?:

But now the frill! The obvious course to take would be to cut a rectangle that was the required depth (plus hems), and was the measurement of the neckline and shoulders times 1 1/2. That method is fine, but I find that can make for a rather boxy frill. Instead I cut the frill as a circular piece, then gathered it to drape across the neckline and around the shoulders:

Completed frill

This way the frill has a flare at the hem without too much bulk at the top. It seemed I was pretty much making it up as it went along with this dress, so I decided to do something similar at the hem:

This time the inner measurement of the frill was the exact measurement of the hem, without any gathering.

So here it is all together:

Here are some details:

I gathered the frill with a long machine stitch, then tried it on with the dress to adjust the size. The off the shoulder section had a piece of elastic applied with a 3-step zig-zag to keep it in place:

Elastic applied with 3-step zig-zag

The rest of the gathering was stitched directly to the neckline:

I didn't line the bodice - I get really hot! - but I did line the skirt in this rose pink polyester, as well as the hem frill:

Despite having no need for this dress in my wardrobe, I did find a reason to wear it at a friends birthday party. Of course, I forgot to take any photos of it in action!

That's it for now - see you soon!

Rules are for Breaking - my Birkin Flares

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 14:24:00 +0000

I've always said I wouldn't make jeans. I didn't see the point - I hardly wear jeans, and have spent time selling them in a professional capacity and understood how much work went into them, something I wasn't really interested in. I have plenty of pairs already (many of them gifts from when I worked in denim, which mostly go unworn), and I don't have any particular fit issues with this garment and so don't have a need for making them.

But then I saw the Birkin Flare by Baste + Gather (I can't remember where) and they intrigued me.

Birkin Flares from Baste + Gather

If I do wear jeans, I like them either black and slim, or retro and wide. But I think I'd been looking at a lot of fashion gumph about how the 70's was back in fashion, and this was a shape I didn't have. Rules broken!

It is a PDF pattern, which is not my favourite method, but I did like the way you could choose what size(s) to print. I didn't print the instructions as they're 48 pages and I don't have a home printer - just had to sew with the lap-top on! But they are VERY well written - if you do make these trousers, read through the instructions before you start as there are little tips on printing, needles, thread tension, and stitch size.

I messed up when it came to choosing my size. I have a tendency to make things a bit too big and I wanted these to fit pretty closely. After comparing the pattern measurements to a favourite pair of high waisted J-Brand jeans, I opted for the size 29

Finished measurements

Luckily I made a toile, because this was most definitely not my size! It was way too small especially in the waist, so I ultimately went for the size 30. I think I made the mistake of comparing this waist, which is about 1" below the natural waist, to my high wasited J-Brands, which because they sit higher are naturally a smaller measurement.

Sizing issues over, I found some really cool black stretch twill on Walthamstow Market at only £3 per metre that was a denim weight. I stocked up on denim weight needles, got several spools of topstitching thread, and ripped a zip out of some worn out jeans which were being disposed of.

And off I went! There is a fair bit of work in jeans - nearly every seam is stitched twice for strength, little bar tacks are sprinkled about, and you have to jump from top stitching and normal thread all the time. But the instructions with this pattern are really clear and well illustrated - if you follow them exactly, you won't make a mistake!

So here they are:

I followed the instructions pretty much to the letter, and everything went pretty well. All the guidance in regards to the stitching of the pockets, the order in which to assemble, and so on, is excellent.

Construction of the back leg - ignore all the creasing and chalk marks

The only time I took my eye off the ball - when I was putting in the zip - was when I made a mistake. I think I got distracted, and ended up putting the zip on the wrong side as according to the pattern. But no big deal - they still work!

I know a lot of people are going to see the creases in the picture above and say it's a fitting issue, but I had been sitting down for some time before I took these pictures. They fit fine! They fit 'closely' over the hips and thighs, but I don't feel they are too small. Anyway, my experience with jeans is that they loosen up with time.

And here's the back view:

The only thing I'd change if I made these again would be to change the belt loop placing. Instead of the one belt loop at the center back, I'd prefer two placed just to the left and right of the center back.

I also didn't bother with the rivets at the corners of the pockets because I wanted to keep the trousers as 'plain' and simple as possible. And these are fashion trousers - they aren't going to be worn every day and I don't think the pockets will actually get that much use.

I noticed in many of the reviews these trousers have been styled in a sort of boho, hippy, gypsy-esque style. What drew me to the pattern was the late 60's/70's feel of the shape; I see it more as something you'd see on a go-go dancer in the background of nightclub scenes:

Love Ann Margret's polka dot flares!

Plus, I've been watching the series 'Aquarius', which besides exploring the Manson Family, also depicts the clash of generations in the late 60's. The costumes aren't always accurate, but there are lots of great bell bottoms!

But I think the biggest inspiration for making these trousers has been this photo of Bruce Lee which I randomly came across. I immediately became obsessed with his trousers:

If you like this, just Google image Bruce Lee - he was so f***ing cool! I don't really have any interest in martial arts, but I can confirm that these trousers are suitable for dramatic karate kicks:

See you soon!

Matchy Matchy - Flamingo Blouse and Jacket

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sat, 14 May 2016 15:21:00 +0000

Hello! Today I'm delving into the 1930's and the 1990's by way of patterns, mixing them all up, and linking them together with the magic of fabric.

I made a version of the long sleeved blouse below about 20 years ago, before I really understood about altering a pattern correctly to fit:

I remember I added extra width to the front and back, but the armholes and neck were all wrong - I wore it anyway. It didn't really work; I wore it a few times before I gave up on it and just resolved this pattern wasn't for me.

Now I know better - I know how to grade a pattern up to the correct size, and then adjust it for my specific figure. And now I know it's wise to make a muslin/toile, something I never used to do. I was too impatient, and I just thought it was just a waste of fabric.

Out came the rulers and the tracing paper and I traced and slashed and adjusted until I had something that looked right. This was fairly involved, and I'll probably cover it in another blog post. I made a toile out of some old curtains that were in our house when we moved in:

It came out surprisingly well - the fit was pretty good, and just a few minor adjustments were needed, like a wider front facing allowance and so on.

Now for the fabric, which was this beauty below:

I picked this fabric up from Hamid's on Ridley Road Market in Dalston, for the lovely price of £1 per metre. You'll notice that the flamingos are at a right angle to the selvedge, which I thought was weird; surely you'd want them to run parallel to the selvedge? This meant I had to break all the sewing rules and lay the pattern out on the cross grain - I didn't want sideways flamingos!

I said earlier that I used to find toiles annoying because I'm really impatient - I just want to get to the sewing part and then the wearing part! But the toile was really helpful in that it made the sewing go really quickly - all the fiddly bits had been worked out in the practice run, as it were.

Here it is:

There are some really nice little details on the blouse, like pleats in the sleeve head and the tucks at the shoulder:

Pleats on the sleeve head

Tucks running from the front shoulder to nearly the bust

I didn't really fancy using any of the closure methods on the packet - a zip looked too bulky, and who has time to make all those rouleau loops? I just extended the centre front to create a self-facing band with buttonholes:

Once the blouse was done, I was left with a pretty sizable amount; I suppose cutting it crosswise didn't use as much up? I'm on a mission to reduce my pile of stash fabrics, and I had the perfect use for the rest of it: a jazzy lining for my replacement Burda bomber jacket.

I made version A, but without the unnecessary shoulder/yoke section

I made this jacket once before a couple of summers ago, as detailed here. I absolutely loved this jacket, and wore it non-stop in the milder months - it was the ideal weight for summer evenings. But in a moment of confusion, it was left on a train - the first time I've ever lost a piece of clothing! I did everything I could to get it back, which mostly involved filling out a Transport for London lost property form, but it was not to be. Someone out there has a custom made bomber jacket; I hope they appreciate it!

Anyway - I'd been meaning to replace it for a while. With the weather improving a little, now seemed the right time. And because I had the previous blog post to refer to, I didn't really have to think much this time round. Here's the finished item, made with fabric from the Textile Centre on Walthamstow Market:

I only deviated from my original version in a couple of places. First, I used exposed zips on the front pockets, rather than the welts I used before:

Cheeky flamingos peeking out!

I love exposed zips - so easy, and they look so impressive!

For the second moderation I added a little placket to the front of the jacket, to sit behind the zip. I noticed this piece is usually present on the classic MA-1 bomber jackets and Harrington's, but for some reason is often left off of domestic sewing patterns. I just guess-timated the size and length; I had it stop short of the zip top a few inches, for no reason other than I liked the look of it:

And here's the flamingo lining:

And together with the blouse in all it's flamingo glory:

Again, this has proven to be one of my favourite jackets and I've worn it almost every chance I get. I'm thinking I'll have to make more in other colours, or maybe tackle a satin embroidered version.

I'm off to ponder all of those possibilities - see you soon!

Never Not Knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 16:32:00 +0000

I'm a fidgety, impatient person. I can't just sit in front of the television and not do something, whether it's sewing, blogging, looking at social media, and so on. It can mean I sometimes find it hard to truly focus - I've been known to sew, surf the web, flip through a magazine, and watch T.V. all at once. And I believe I'm probably succumbing to that modern malaise of being over stimulated, with too many distractions and ideas buzzing around my head to the point where relaxing, even sleeping, can be difficult.

So knitting helps with this. When I'm tired of sewing, and especially when I want to focus on a film, show, or podcast, knitting is the ideal pastime. It's repetitive enough that it's relaxing, but it fulfills the fidgety part of my personality. I always have 1 (or more!) knitting projects on the go, and since around January I've finished several. But unlike sewing which can be (but not always!) fast, and I almost always document, knitting is slow for me. So this blog post is a catch up on knitting pieces I've completed over the last 6 months or so.

First up is this little red cardigan which I've been knitting for a looooong time - I can't remember how long, but at least a year. I used Drops Baby Merino in red from Love Knitting, which is a 4 ply; being fine, it took a long time to actually get anywhere, but I think it's been worth it in the end because the result is a lovely, lightweight but warm knit.

The whole cardigan is knitted in stocking stitch, which is pretty boring to execute. I added the little heart motifs around the waist and sleeves myself, just to make it a little less tedious to knit. The inspiration, and actual pattern for it came from here.

The other change I made was to knit the front band and neck band all in one with the body of the sweater. I hate sewing knitting up, so the less sewing up the better. The only draw back was that I did the 2 sides differently; you'll notice the line along the right side where I worked a row of ribbing to show the start and finish of the button band, but forgot to do that on the other side. But I'd got too far at that stage, and couldn't bothered to rip it back, so I'm stuck with it.

Next, some unselfish knitting for Mr Needles. He always complains of being cold, but hates the itchiness of wool. I managed to find this Drops Alpaca from Wool Warehouse, which is super soft, ideal for this hat Tin Can knits:

And a sleeveless vest from this pattern:

He wasn't in a mood to model it - this is the best you're going to get.

That kept him warm over the Christmas period!

Back to me - I finished these socks in January, which at first appear fairly plain, but have this interesting afterthought heel. (I realize this is only interesting to knitters, and means nothing to anyone else!) The pattern was from the Knitter, the wool was again Drops, this time Fabel which is a sock weight 4 ply.

There was a little bit of the wool left over from the cardigan above. I hate waste, so I found this interesting scarf pattern from Kidsknits which was quick and easy:

Then, back in June, I started this lovely pattern which I found on the Chawed Rosin blog, which I found through the Vintage Pattern Files. (By the way, shout out to Wendy who runs this blog - it's an excellent resource for patterns, almost always free)

Bernard Ullman Pattern, circa 1965

The detail on the front looks complicated, but was really easy once you get the hang of it. This was one of my fastest knits ever, due to the fact it was knitted in Drops Nepal (again from Love Knitting), which is an Aran weight and so a bit chunkier than all the previous wools. You cover ground fast with this one! Here it is in orange:

Waiting for buttons...

And currently I'm working on these 2:

First, I'm slowly finishing off this jumper, which is a free pattern from Rowan (You have to set up an account to download it).

This has taken FOREVER for me to get anywhere, not because I don't like it, it's just that I've realised I don't like knitting in cotton. For this one, I'm using Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton, from Love Knitting. I did also decide halfway through to rip it back and start again because I decided I was knitting the wrong size - you live and learn... Here's what I've done so far:

A front, a back, and one and a half sleeves - not long to go...

And finally - thanks for sticking with me this far! - I've just started this purple cardigan, knitted from a 1950's pattern, again found through the Vintage Pattern Files here.

I only started this one about a week ago, and have already made great progress. This is mostly because it's a clever pattern where the sleeves are knitted as one with the body, so the whole pattern is made up of only 3 main pieces instead of 5. Here's a shot of the nearly complete back piece:

Whew! And that's it for knitting for now. See you soon!

'Pass the Peas' Dress - A Vintage Pledge Mash-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 22:17:00 +0000

Hello! I've just come back from adventures in Los Angeles and Hollywood, where besides visiting Disneyland, eating a lot of Japanese food, and drinking a lot of cocktails, I also managed to do some fabric shopping. For some reason, it didn't occur to me to visit Mood's Los Angeles outpost; instead, I was excited about seeing Islands Fabrics, which is a whole store devoted to Hawaiian and Tropical fabric!

Just a smidgen of what they have on offer!

I was very restrained and only bought one piece, which is the barkcloth-weight leaves in the picture below, bottom right:

The rest was picked up in the surrounding shops, and there were so many more than expected:

Most of them are earmarked for shirts for Mr Needles, would you believe, but I managed to sneak in one more for myself, the little garden peas print cotton. It was sitting unloved on a pavement at the bargain price of only $2 per yard (had to go back to Imperial for this visit; metric never really did take off in the US), so I felt sorry for it and bought a couple of yards.

At first I saw it as a blouse - it seemed like too much pattern for a dress - but this beauty had been playing on my mind:

This was part of my prize from Vintage Pattern Pledge for 2015, run by Kerry at Kestrel Makes and Marie at a Stitching Odyssey. It seems apt to use the pattern won from 2015's pledge as part of 2016's pledge, so I went for it!

Just one hitch - buying without a specific project in mind had backfired, and 2 yards wasn't going to be enough to accommodate the flared skirt. Solution - use a straight skirt from another favourite pattern, Butterick 8571:

I've used this pattern twice before, once as illustrated here, and once just as the skirt here and it worked out fine both times.

I had planned to take some pretty photos in my garden, doing some gentle weeding or something, but the recent gales we experienced here in the UK have turned my neglected garden into a bit of a mess. But I carried on regardless - here's the new dress in action:

I don't think the change in skirt makes too much difference - it still looks 40'ish. besides the skirt, I also had to adapt the sleeves to a shorter length in order to fit them in. But I gave them a little scalloped detail just as a reference to the original ruched shape:

Inside of sleeve with facing

Speaking of sleeves, I decided to insert the sleeve before the side seams were attached, on the flat, as it were. This was much easier and less fiddly than the usual technique of closing the side and underarm seam first, and the sleeve head came out pretty smooth:

The neckline is the main feature on this dress, being made up of 2 draped and pleated panels which then attach at the centre front and are covered with a little tab:

Before attachment to the bodice...

...and after

I wasn't quite sure how to finish this seam so that it was neat and attractive, and the instructions give you no guidance. I finally decided to bind it with bias cut from the same fabric as the lining:

The hem was also finished with matching bias strips:

I rarely line a dress fully - I get too hot! - and this was no exception. I used a gold poly to line the skirt, which you can see at the kick pleat at the back:

And finally it all gets closed up with a zip at the centre back, which is again a necessary departure from the pattern which saved fabric. But I did stay old-school and put the zip in by hand, with a little hook and eye at the top:

And that's pretty much it. I'm off to learn how to drive this thing!

See you soon!

Learning to Love My Overlocker

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 12:12:00 +0000

A while ago, I bought a Singer over locker from Lidl, at the bargain price of £129. Up to that point I had only a few forays into sewing knits, such as here, but I thought it was about time I explored this arena. And I was looking forward to using it as a quick and easy way to finish seams, rather than the time consuming (but pretty!) French seams I tend to go for.

Source - Kestrel Makes

I seem to be getting more impatient in my older age, and this piece of equipment tested it no end. She is a total DIVA! I know it's bad, but my other machines are full of fluff and chug along with blunt needles, sewing all manner of materials and thicknesses. But this princess needs constant attention, playing up when just the smallest bit of fluff accumulates, and only cooperating after brushing and total rethreading.

I had a good read up about overlockers (Kestrel Makes blog post helped), and it seems this is just how they are. But it's also been about learning a new set of sewing skills - a new type of threading, a whole new area of fabrics to understand, how to use them in making garments, tensions and stitch types to become familiar with, and so on. The instruction manual didn't help, with it's terrible pictures and unclear diagrams, but with repetition I think I've finally got there.

Among other things, the the repetition has taken the form of making these 3 slash neck tops:

I love t-shirts, but in a bid to cut down on buying any clothes I wanted to start making my own. I saw this pattern hack from Heather B on Pattern Review using Grainline Studio's Lark Tee, but I think you could use any t-shirt pattern for the body. I myself used the Tilly and the Buttons Agnes Top as it fits closer to the body at the waist. Go have a look at the tutorial - it's an ingenious way of doing facings, and super easy!

Anyway,as a way of becoming more confident with the overlocker and stretch fabrics, these tops were ideal learning experiences. Here's what I've come to realise:

Tension is key. Use all of your scraps to test the tension before every new project, and with the change of every fabric. This particular machine seems to get 'upset' with every change of fabric, and behaves very differently between stretch and woven fabric.

My first project - that's some BAD tension!

That's more like it - good tension.

Like anything, all stretch fabrics are different. The pink leopard fabric I would describe as 'hard' - it doesn't stretch in the way the other 2 do in that it doesn't seem to snap back. Maybe the Lycra content is low, or it doesn't have any? The overlocker certainly didn't like it as much as the red or pink fabric, especially where bulk was involved, where it just would snarl up - see below:

Shoulder seam snarl up!

- but the other 2 fabrics were lovely to sew with and went through the machine like a dream. I would describe the red as 'springy', as you can see in the twin needle hem I used below.

I can't believe how much quicker everything is with an overlocker! I'm all for slow sewing, I have no problem with hand sewing, or generally 'taking the long way round' if it means a better result in a garment. But it's also nice being able to make a top in a couple of hours.
Don't give up - if you get annoyed with it (you will!) either walk away and have a cup of tea, or put the machine away for a few hours, then approach it refreshed.
Read the manual, but don't take everything it says as gospel. Other then the threading, I've found that not everything the manual recommends is exactly true - tensions differ fabric to fabric, and you can be creative with stitch uses and don't have to do exactly as they say.
If all else fails, un-thread it, give it a brush/hoover/dust, and re-thread it. Who knew fluff was such a nuisance!

These are just my personal thoughts on working with the overlocker - there are lots of other resources out there if you need something more technical, but hopefully this will encourage those of you who are a bit nervous of approaching overlockers, or who have given up on an existing one. Keep going!

See you soon!

Vintage Pledge 2016 - a Bit of Leopard

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 20:43:00 +0000

Hello! Once I read about the Vintage Pledge for 2016 on Marie's blog here, I knew I couldn't not get involved. After all, I have more than I know what to do with:

Just a few then...

I decided to start with McCall's 9722, which is a TNT for me. I love the simplicity of the design - it's just one piece and a waistband - and the draping at the waist is flattering and comfortable.

My old leopard skirt was looking the worse for wear, and since I consider leopard a wardrobe basic it was important it was replaced. I spotted this lovely stretch fabric at Fabworks Online:

The skirt fabric is the top right; I went a bit leopard crazy and got the pink jersey for a t-shirt

And here it is:

Picture taking coincided with wash day and my hair being up in a beehive, so Mr Needles decided it would be apt to go full-kitchen sink drama and take some photos while I pegged out the laundry.

The skirt is very easy to make, as it's just a center back seam with a zip and a waistband. I strayed from the vintage path and put in an invisible zip, where normally I would hand pick the zip on a piece like this. But they're still such a novelty to me I want any excuse to use them!

I shortened the length to just past the knee, rather than the vintage mid-calf. The pattern calls for the back vent to be sewn closed, making it in essence a pleat, but I turned it into a lapped split instead.

And the whole lot was lined with some deep purple poly from my stash:

And that's really it! This is sure to be just the first of many vintage patterns I make up this year.

See you soon!

Caped Capers!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:12:00 +0000

I'm on a mission to reduce the mountain of fabric I currently have, though with each piece of stash used I inevitably have to buy more to supplement whatever it is I'm making, be it lining, contrast trim, and so on. Baby steps, I suppose.

In a bid to start, I dug out some lovely tartan wool from Abakhans, which I've had for at least 5 years:

I considered a skirt at first, but I really wanted a cape or jacket or something along those lines. This was partly inspired by the cape I made for Mr Needles which I drafted myself. It was so easy, I decided to give it a go.

I started by making a muslin which looked like this:

This was just the basic cape shape, with no provision for arms or anything. I didn't really want this sort of thing, so after playing around for a bit I settled on the shape below, which is somewhere in between a jacket and a cape:

I made a few adjustments to the shoulder shape, the length, added a hood pattern and drafted facings, then started cutting out. I quickly realized that the fabric wasn't going to be heavy enough on its own, so I decided to interline it with some black cotton sheeting. In order to keep it in place while I was working with it, I tacked the cotton pieces to the outer fabric along the lines of the tartan, as you'll see below. The tacking was then removed once the pieces were all sewn together:

Wrong side of hood piece with interlining and tacking

Right side of hood piece with tacking

I did this with all the main pieces, before applying the interfacing which I attached by hand - forgot to take photos of this step, unfortunately!

I like my projects, especially coats and jackets, to have weight to them; once I machined it all together, it still didn't feel quite weighty enough. I decided to abandon my original lining, a shiny poly, and considered other heavier options, like quilting. I couldn't find any I liked; then after a stroll along Walthamstow market I happened on some black fleece - problem solved!

And here it is all finished up!:

I only had 2 metres of the tartan; if I'm honest, 2.5 or 3m would have been ideal to match all of the seams. But I just decided that some seams would match, some would 'half-match', and others wouldn't match at all. And you can always cut some bits on the bias and thus avoid matching altogether!

There's no back seam, so no matching needed there!

I made extra matchy efforts with the front:

And the hood, which was cut on the bias, got extra attention on the seam:

But the side seam got what I call 'half-matching' - I matched the horizontal lines, but not exactly to the right parts of the tartan - you'll see what I mean below:

Close up of the side seam - sort of matched...

But the shoulder seams - forget it! I've got better things to do:

Not really matched shoulders. Oh well...

Because I thought the front was looking a bit plain, I added a little tab at the last minute for some interest, and to pull the hood in around the neck:

Here's a picture of the linings and facings. The fleece was such a good choice - despite the big drafty sleeves, the jacket is really warm!:

One last thing - I love the simple silhouette of the jacket/cape, but it does have a rather limiting effect on the movement of your arms. Reaching up high for anything does mean the whole jacket lifts up with your arms; not a big problem, but for that reason I stopped the buttons at the waist:

And I think that's it. I leave you with a picture of me looking rather goofy with the hood up:

See you soon!

Outfit details:

Jacket - homemade, tartan wool from Abakhan, fleece lining from Walthamstow market

Jeans - Freddies of Pinewood

Shoes - Dries Van Noten

Gloves - knitted by me!

Brooches - Russian Dolls from Budapest, Spanish Galleon from charity shop

2 Skirts and a Cape - from Ikea?

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 15:56:00 +0000

I'll warn you now - this is a bit of a rambling post, taking in everything from Ikea to Vincent Price, 80's Butterick to pattern matching, but stick with it - you might have some fun!

I've written before about how I usually end up overspending whenever I visit Ikea, and more often then not I end doing most of said overspending in the fabric section. This time I had a reason to be buying fabric, as Mr Needles was getting a long held Halloween request for a cape fulfilled. He's a big fan of horror movies, especially those from the 60's and 70's, and wanted to conjure up a Vincent Price look for Halloween - a combination of this:

Vincent Price in 'Masque of the Red Death'

and this:

Vincent Price in 'Witchfinder General'

I drafted my own pattern using the ever helpful (though at times a bit complicated) Natalie Bray - the cover (picture below) actually features the diagram for drafting a cape:

I used this pattern for the hood, which I lengthened to get the right amount of drapey, spookiness necessary:

I'm terrible at estimating fabric, and nearly always overbuy and this was no exception. He'd requested it be nearly floor length, so after playing around with the pattern pieces on the floor of the living room, I estimated about 4 metres would be enough.

Pattern making in action - when only newspaper is big enough for your pattern pieces.

Next stop Ikea, where I found this plain red, medium weight fabric for only £4 per metre.

Lenda from Ikea

The cape was basically lots of long straight seams, and I wasn't going to bother with lining or anything, so it went together pretty quickly:

At the halfway stage

Hood fitting session with Mr Needles

And just to add a little touch of the baroque, I added this closure made of buttons from my stash:

Here's the finished product, on Halloween night:

I only really got these pictures - too busy having a good time!

So that was the cape. But what about the skirts mentioned in the title? Well, the overspending and over estimating on fabric came in handy, because I was able to get a couple of skirts for myself out of the leftovers and a sneaky remnant I bought at the time.

First, a pencil skirt using this 80's pattern:

I really liked the idea of the pockets - always handy! - and the button back closure. Here's how it looks:

The skirt seemed a little baggy at first, so I took it in a little through the side seams. Fits great, but the only concern is that now I have to be careful with any bending, as any extra strain on the buttons can be disastrous. I've already popped one, and sent it flying across the room! If I made it again, I might replace the buttons with a seam and zip.

Close up of button closure

And pockets are always a great addition:

So a piece from the remnant bin at Ikea also managed to come home with me - 1.5 metres of this over sized check:

Berta Ruta fabric from Ikea

I decided it would be perfect for the other skirt in this pattern, but without the back buttons, and the checks would make some really interesting lines:

Because of the limited amount of fabric, the back and front seams match, the sides not so perfectly, but you can't win 'em all!:

And again, pockets! - which I cut on the bias, so no need for any pattern matching:

I've worn both of these skirts at least once a week since I made them - they're just really handy to throw on with a t-shirt or sweater.

Hope that wasn't too long for everyone - see you soon!

Christmas Dresses, Two at a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 01:04:00 +0000

Hello! Hope everyone's had a lovely holiday. I know I've eaten my own weight in chocolate and cheese, so that counts as a resounding success. I don't know about you, but I always like some new stuff to wear for Christmas, whether I need it or not. I had made my mind up to make one final dress for the #vintagepledge, and at the last minute decided to knock out one more, because as you'll see, the first dress, although a joy to wear, is not the most practical when roasting a turkey.

Christmas dress number one is from this 1967 Simplicity pattern:

Simplicity 7088, 1967

I can't remember where I saw this pattern, but when I did I knew I had to have it. I raced around loads of sites looking for it, and eventually bought it from ogy0531 on eBay. It was nearly £20 with p+p, which is more than I would normally spend on a pattern, but I had to have it! And it isn't even the right size - this is a bust 31, I'm more of a 36, so I used this pattern which I know fits me straight out of the packet, to grade it up to my size:

I used reams and reams of tracing paper, and even made a toile, which looked like this:

At this stage, I was concerned that I was going to look like this:

Agnes Moorehead as Endora in 'Bewitched'

- but I carried on despite this. But a part of me always loved Endora's sense of drama, so in tribute to her I decided to go for a gold and black look, courtesy of some cheap lame knit from Walthamstow market.

Enough of my waffling, here's the finished dress:

Of course, the most spectacular part of the dress is the back:

This is certainly the most comfortable 'glamour' dress I've ever worn; it sort of feels like a hospital gown because it's all loose and swingy at the back, and feels like it could fly up at any moment.

And the secret to the shape of the whole thing lies in this sneaky little bra extender, which is hidden inside and keeps the front portion close to the body and lets the rest hang free:

I lined the whole dress in a light weight poly to give it some stability, and the bra extender was hidden under the cape - here's a flash of the inside (excuse my big red bra):

Here's one more swish:

As much as I love that dress, it's more of a night time look, not really suitable for turkey and gravy on Christmas Day. At the very last minute - December 22nd - I decided to make a more wearable dress out of some stash fabric using a pattern I've used before:

Simplicity 9330 from 1971

I used some bargain-tastic viscose and light weight poly lining I picked up, once again, at Walthamstow market. I got it cut out and sewn up in 2 days, which is super quick for me, and it was my first invisible zip in a garment - milestone! Here it is:

It was all pretty straight forward, I knew it would fit so I didn't have to try it on along the way, and the invisible zip saved so much time:

Not bad for a first attempt - why did I wait so long to do this?!!?

The only slightly tricky bit is the collar/bow thing at the neck, which involved a bit of basting and a bit of unpicking to finally get right:

The fabric has a bit of stretch in it, so was ideal for sweating away in the kitchen, then eating all of the roasted goodness, as well as pudding and other sweets.

So all round a sartorially successful Christmas. Hope everyone had a good one and here's to a fabulous New Year!

See you soon!

A Winter Jumpsuit - Burda #130

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 00:43:00 +0000

Every now and then I stray off the vintage path and make something from the present day. This Burda jumpsuit caught my eye, partly because it reminded me of something which Clare at Sew Dixie Lou brought my attention to:

Joan Collins in 'Tales of the Unexpected', 1980

It's a massive stretch from Joan and her zips to Burda 09/2011 #130, but stick with me:

(Is it me, or does Burda Girl look massively depressed, so much so she's taken to drinking alone, while staring out the window, wondering where all the time went, or something...)

This is one of a number of projects waiting to be blogged, but I've been too busy wearing them. This jumpsuit has been a particular favourite, though I somehow couldn't get it to photograph at it's best. Excuse all the wrinkles and draping, the fabric was misbehaving!

I used a wool/poly/lycra blend from my new local supplier in Walthamstow, The Man Outside Sainsburys! (#TMOS), which was only £3 per metre. It took 3 metres, so a total of £9 - bargain! It's one of those in between colours, a bit brown, a bit grey, a bit khaki, but it handles beautifully and the stretch makes it really comfortable to wear.

Here's the back:

I'm used to wearing quite fitted styles, so something this loose and draped is a total departure for me. At times it feels like I'm wearing pyjamas. Unlike the girl in the photo, I have boobs and an open front to deal with, so I had to add a hidden hook and eye and press stud to keep it decent:

As I usually do with trousers, I lined the back seat section for stability and comfort:

I'm not a big lover of PDF patterns, but this one was really inexpensive - £3.99 - and wasn't as painful to put together as they usually are.

The instructions are a bit vague, but it all went together pretty well. The only thing I would recommend is to use an invisible zip for a sleeker look; I used a lapped zip and it sticks out a bit. Might change it later...

Some other details -

The sleeves are pretty long, but going by the picture they are meant to be rolled back in a cuff, as are the trousers. And there's pockets, which is always a plus!:

And I think that's it! See you soon!

From Paris to Walthamstow - Butterick 5281

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 01:26:00 +0000

In July, went on a quick trip to Paris with my family where I couldn't help but have a quick look around the fabric shops in Montmartre. It would be rude not too, after all! And that's where I found this beauty:

I love nautical clothes, jewelry, motifs, and so on - I don't really know why, other than it makes me feel like I'm on holiday. I'm terrible at swimming! As usual I had no real plan, so I bought about 2.5 metres, and I think it was about 12 Euros in total - not too bad when you think a coffee in Paris is about 4 Euros...

I added it to my sizable stash, and didn't give it any more thought until I saw that Weaver Dee had a sale on patterns, where I got this lovely little dress:

Butterick 5281

I didn't immediately put the fabric with this pattern, but it somehow just clicked one day when I was looking through my fabrics that they would work together. But before I cut into it, I wanted to make sure that I got the fit just right - now for the tracing and slashing, which there was A LOT of!

You may have noticed that the pattern is sized 6 - 12. I'm between a 12 and 14, depending on the cut, but being a total cheap-o, there was no way I was going to buy 2 patterns. I figured I was experienced enough to size it up in the places I needed it, and the draping over the right shoulder and left waist absorb any fullness I needed to 'hide'.

I won't go into all the details because quite honestly I can't remember everything I changed but mostly I added 1/2" to the centre front and back, pinched some fullness out of the armholes and swung them into the gathers at the waist and pleats over the shoulder. I also lengthened the bodice by 1".

Phew! After all that, here's the finished dress, as photographed on the streets of Walthamstow:

After mucking around with the toile for ages, the actual dress went together really well. I really like the way the draping works over the shoulder:

Here's a close up of the gathers by the waist:

The neckline actually opens on the left so that you can get it over your head; the instructions tell you to close this with press studs, but I decided to change this and instead of snaps used buttons, which I got from Walthamstow market:

I lined the whole dress with a light poly cotton, again from Walthamstow:

And finally, some shoulder pads were put in to give it that 40's silhouette:

And that's pretty much it - see you soon!

Film Noir Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 01:18:00 +0000

Hello! I've been away from the land of Blogs for a while because of life and stuff. I've just moved house - the first time in 20 years! - which has disrupted my sewing and knitting out put. But I made sure I made one last thing before the big move, which I'm sharing with you now.

I've had this pattern for ages, and while I always loved it, I never really felt I had the right look for it until now. According to the Vintage Pattern Wiki, it's from 1951 - it definitely has that haughty, Parisienne fashion look about it from that time:

Simplicity 8424, 1951

And even better, I had a length of black, grosgrain-type fabric I acquired during the swap at the Sew Brum meet-up which Claire from Sew Incidentally had donated.

The finished dress has a feel of something a no-good dame from a film noir would wear. Or if you're familiar with the work of artist Ryan Heshka, it kinda has the pointy-boob, big hip thing going on that one of his scary women would wear:

Mean Girls Club - Ryan Heshka

And here it is:

As you can see, I decided to pursue the film noir theme to its logical conclusion and take some shadowy photos in my new back yard.

Apologies for the wrinkly look in the photos - there's something about this fabric that just resists all ironing. I've tried steam, heat, spray starch, alone and in combination - it just doesn't want to know. Hence the crinkly lapped seam in this photo:

But it's still a great dress to wear. I particularly love the pockets, which sit away from the body and make your waist look smaller:

Close-up of pocket

Other details:

The buttons at the neck are covered in the same fabric as the dress:

I reinforced the base of the button facings and the pocket seams with embroidered arrowheads:

It's hard to see, being black on black, but there's an arrowhead on the left!

And I lined the skirt in red, as well as finishing the hem, as always, with matching bias:

The only fitting adjustment I made was adding some extra room in the bust; other than that it all went together pretty well.

This dress is surprisingly comfortable to wear; I might even make another one, if I ever get my sewing things unpacked... Anyway, it's great to be back on the Blog-wagon - see you soon!

Crimplene Capers

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 11:36:00 +0000

Ever have those times when you set out to do one thing, and end up discovering something else on the way? I did exactly this about a year ago when I set out for Ikea one day. Living in London, I don't bother with a car which on the whole is fine, except for when you want to go to Ikea. On this day it just so happened that there was some insane road construction happening en route, which meant the bus stops were all moved around. I walked around for what seemed like ages and was just about to turn around and go home when I decided to look for this infernal bus stop on a side street. That's when I came across Cannon Street Jersey Fabrics. I'd heard about the mythical 'jersey warehouse of North London' from several other sewists - could this be it?

Ikea was long gone from my mind by now. I wandered in; it was a large warehouse with bolts of fabric piled upright in no particular order. A lot of it was jersey, but there were some wovens too. What really stood out were the rolls of crimplene type fabrics sprinkled throughout. I was really taken with their 70's goodness, but as is always the way when you come across surprise fabric, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to make or how much to buy. So I randomly went for some charcoal coloured wool weight sprinkled with silver stars, for about £2 per metre.

Close up of the Crimplene - the silver section on the left is the back

This sat around in the stash for a while until I felt inspired to do something with it. Then I got I flash of sewing inspiration and decided to make this:

Butterick 6950

Believe it or not, this is one of my few TNT patterns - no practical trousers or sensible skirts for me! I've made versions of it before here and here. This time I made the shorter version - here it is:

The flared skirt and puffy sleeves actually take up more fabric than you'd think, so it was a bit of a squeeze getting the pattern to fit into 2 meters. Corners had to be cut. For example, the hem had to be faced with lining so I could get as much length as possible out of it:

Hem facing

And I had to do some sneaky piecing together at the corners of the side seam:

I also had to forgo the tie at the back, and reduce the sleeve band to about half it's size. But other than that it all went together pretty well. I've never sewn with this sort of fabric before and wasn't sure about seam finishes or whether to use stretch or plain stitches. It's slightly bulky when there are several layers, so my beloved French seams were out of the question. But my new(ish) overlocker came in handy for seam finishes:

I've worn this dress loads since I made it; it just somehow works for lots of different occasions. It's been to a gig, a nightclub, a hen do, and several dinners.

And that's it- see you soon!

Minerva Bloggers Network - Butterick 5298 and the Tartan Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:06:00 +0000

It may be spring, but there are still some chilly days - going jacket less still isn't quite a possibility. That's why I decided to make Butterick 5298 to wear on these in-between days.

As you can see, it's a re-print from Butterick's archives of a swing jacket from 1946, I loved it the moment I saw it - the wide shoulders, the deep cuffs and wide sleeves - what's not to love? And I love anything swingy and swishy. I also wanted to re-create a dressy looking Pendleton-type jacket, with a more feminine look to it.

Source - Vintage Vixen

As for fabric, I loved the working with the fabric I used on a previous Minerva project of mine, my Christmas tartan skirt, and it's the perfect look and weight for what I was trying to achieve. And despite being warm and soft like wool, it's actually a clever mix of polyester, acrylic, and rayon, so there's none of the scratchiness that comes with wool.

I actually had a fair bit left over from the skirt (I'm terrible at estimating fabric quantities...) so I only needed a little bit more to complete the jacket, which luckily was still in stock at Minerva.

And it turned out I had just enough! It took 3 evenings of crawling around on the living room floor to get this monster cut out, and I used pretty much every scrap:

This was all that was left...

More than anything, it was tiring cutting this out because of all the decisions that had to be made regarding what would match and what wouldn't. I wanted to match the obvious, such as the centre front and back:

Centre front and yoke matching at the neckline. I marked the centre front with a yellow tacking stitch to help

I also wanted to match the front and back yoke to it's respective pieces. But when it came to side seams and cuffs - forget it! Side seams were left to do what they wanted, and with the cuffs I was sneaky and cut them on the bias, so no matching needed!

Cuff detail

As is always the way with me, I put more work than was probably necessary into the insides of the jacket. I didn't want to use stiff, glue-y interfacings that would affect the drape of the cloth, so I opted for sew in hair canvas. I cut all the pieces - yoke front and back, front facing, cuffs - with the seam allowances removed so there would be no bulk in the seams. Then it was all attached to the pieces using herringbone stitch:

Back yoke with interfacing stitched in place

I also cut long strips of bias and placed them in the sizable hem to add a nice weight:

Bias strips stitched in place, and then hem attached to it

Enough of the detail - here it is!:

And it has pockets!:

Side seam pockets

The collar grows out of the yoke, then fastens with a single button. This was meant to be a bound buttonhole, but I couldn't be bothered, so I sewed a snap on under a button from my stash.

Despite being loose and swingy, the shoulders of the jacket are very fitted and sit quite snugly, so the jacket sits firmly in place. This is partly down to the curved seams at the shoulders, which round shoulder pads are stitched to:

Pressing the shoulder seams open

It's all lined with a bright red polyester, which was sewn in by machine, but then attached at the hem by hand.

And that's pretty much it! If you like the look of the fabric, head over to Minerva and check it out.

See you soon!

Cats with Mustard - Mmmm!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 01:07:00 +0000

Today you get a 2-for-1 post! I know blog posts have been a bit slow from Needles HQ recently, but it's not for lack of any production, just life getting in the way. Anyway, today I present to you the Disdainful Cats skirt with a hand knitted 1960's tie-neck sweater:

Let's start with the skirt - it's basically the same design as the one I used for my December Minerva project, which involved taking a piece from Burda 122 and sticking it on to the back of a self drafted pencil skirt:

Apologies for creasing...

Close up of back frill

The fabric is a medium weight cotton I picked up at Fancy Silks in Birmingham while on the SewBrum meet-up. It actually came from the furnishing fabrics department - I suppose it's intended for curtains, cushion covers, etc. The cats have a bit of a snooty air about them, so I couldn't imagine having a room decked out in them. Imagine all that judgement gazing down at you. But I liked the colour and feel of the fabric enough to ignore their bullying and make this skirt.

Here's some details-

As with the previous version, I avoided side seams by overlapping the front and back pieces at the side and cutting it all as one, with just a centre back seam. As if by some miracle, the pattern matched up nearly perfectly at the back seam:

Almost perfect matching - take that cats!

I put in a hand picked zip, and finished off the waistband with a little black button from my stash:

The skirt is fully lined, with the hem finished with bias made from the lining:

Lining where the frill meets the skirt

Detail of the hem

Mr needles was kind enough to be my photographer for the day, but as we started to take the photos an unexpected storm started to build up:

It started raining about 30 mins after this photo was taken!

But it gave me an opportunity to get some action shots of the frill:

Now the sweater-

I love knitting, but I'm less experienced with it as compared to sewing, and I'm often less than pleased with the results. So I stick to socks and scarves, and little things that don't require much fitting.

But this pattern, from a 1960's 'Woman and Home' booklet caught my eye as something I could actually do well:

I used a 4ply wool and polyester mix by Drops, which I ordered from Loveknitting (It's only £1.50 per ball!) And even though I consider it an 'ugly' colour, I chose mustard because it seemed era-appropriate and I secretly really like it. The only drawback is that the wool is a little itchy, but after washing it seems to be softening up.

The whole jumper is knitted in plain stocking stitch, and other than shaping and a little bit of detail at the hems it was pretty boring to knit.

Here it is:

I think it's pretty close to the original!

Some details:

Close up of hem

The hem of the body and the sleeves all have this picot stitch worked about 11 rows after casting on. After it's worked, you fold the hem under, resulting in this pretty edging.

Inside view of the hem turned up

Here's a close up of the neck tie:

It's just a long strip with pointed ends that's sewn around the neck and threaded through a little knitted loop on the left.

And that's pretty much it - see you soon!

Minerva Bloggers Network - Trousers - 1, Waistcoat - 0

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 08:30:00 +0000

As you've probably worked out from the title, for this month's Minerva Blogger Network Project, I had some success and some failure. I decided on a waistcoat and trouser outfit, inspired by this photo of David Bowie, circa 1976:

David Bowie during his Thin White Duke phase, 1976

I started with the trousers, which were copied from an old pair I already had. I purchased these Claudie Pierlot trousers over 10 years ago, and rediscovered them recently when I was having a big wardrobe clearout:

It's hard to see details in the photos (so hard to photograph black!), but they're flat fronted, mid rise, wide legged trousers with a curved waistband. There are pockets in the side seams, as well as one on the left back. There are also little details like this overlapped waistband closure:

The trousers themselves are a bit worn out, with the fabric a bit shiny in places. They're also a bit tight around my backside. So unlike my previous Libertine coat copy, I had no qualms with picking these trousers apart and using them as my pattern, which you'll see below:

The unpicked trousers - from top: pocket pieces, left and right waistband,trousers front and back

This bit was relatively easy - I just added 5/8"/1.5 cm to each seam as well as an extra 1/4"/5 mm to the centre back, then cut the pieces out. I copied the dart from the back onto my new pieces, and stuck with the 2 1/2" hem from the original. I used a cotton sateen with 3% spandex from Minerva which was just perfect for the occasion - it irons well and doesn't fray too much.

These trousers were a great learning experience for me because it's the first time I've used an overlocker to finish seams on a tailored garment, as you can see below:

It all felt a bit upside down to me - I had to overlock many of the pieces before constructing the garment, and so had to re-think the order in which I would normally work. But on the whole I'm happy with the way it worked out. And I'm actually starting to really enjoy using the overlocker; the straight stitch machine feels so slow in comparison!

Here's the finished product:

I changed the original welt pocket on the back to a false pocket flap:

And without focusing on my bottom for too long, I think the combination of the stretch fabric and the extra seam allowance on the back seam has resulted in a pretty good fit!

And I love the width of the leg, as well as the side seam pockets:

Side seam pockets

One thing I added that's not in the original pair of trousers was a half lining to the back pieces. I always think this helps prolong the life of the garment, and prevent bagging in the seat area.

Inside view of the half lining

So where's the waistcoat? Well, that was a total fail. Instead of resembling the Thin White Duke, I looked more like this:

Wendy Jans, professional snooker player

Incidentally, if you Google 'female snooker players' you get a stupid amount of shots of women leaning over snooker tables showing acres of cleavage. This was virtually the only one where the subject was covered up.

I used this pattern, graded up to my measurements:

McCall's 9722, circa 1954

I thought this was the right amount of tailoring, but with enough feminine fit not to look too 'Annie Hall'. But I messed around with the fit for days, and eventually gave up. This is the only picture I took:

As you can see, it's not fitted enough through the bust and waist. The back piece and the arms/shoulders are fine, but I just got bored with it. I've redrafted the pattern, and I think I have just enough fabric left to make another one, so watch this space. I will not let it defeat me!

See you soon!

A Bit of Winter Sparkle

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:41:00 +0000

Hello there! I'm behind with my blogging and have several things to show you guys, so expect a flurry of posts in the next few weeks. To start - I made a coat! As usual there's a bit of a story behind it. I bought this coat about 10 years ago:

It's by a brand called Libertine, who at the time specialised in customizing high end vintage clothes with graphics. It was hugely expensive, but I managed to get a massive discount, and proceeded to wear it to death as it was SO WARM!!!! There were no labels inside - naughty Libertiner-s took them out and replaced them with their own - but I assume it was a cashmere or cashmere mix. It's also hard to determine the era of the coat without the labels; looking at the construction techniques, it could be from any era between the late 60's to the 80's.

The coat appears simple, but there is some interesting sleeve. armhole, and yoke construction:

Back armhole and sleeve detail

Besides the name on the back, there's also some symbols on the sleeve cuffs:

But as you can probably see in the photos, the coat has seen better days - it's threadbare all over the place, some of the buttonholes are frayed, and I won't show you the lining because it's disgracefully worn out. But I've hung on to it for years because it was an investment and I can't bear to part with it, even though it's pretty unwearable. So I've kept it's memory going by remaking it. Here's the pattern which I made through a combination of measuring and tracing - it looks weird:

The pattern - that's the sleeve on the top right

I was considering taking the coat apart and using the pieces as my pattern, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it - am I the only one sentimental about clothes this way?

I used a sparkly wool that I picked up last summer on a flying visit to Abakhan's in Manchester:

It has a sort of boucle texture with random bits of silver sprinkled throughout. And it frays like crazy when you work with it, so pinking shears were used for most seams.

And here it is:

I have been wearing this constantly since I made it - it's so warm and comfortable! I didn't quite manage to transfer all of the fullness of the original to my version, but I think it still retains the shape of the original. I lost the front button band - never liked that bit - and added that to the front section. I also made it a good 5 "/12.5 cm approx off the length.

I totally forgot to take any construction photos as I went along, but I used iron-on hair canvas for the interfacing on the front, yoke, and collar. Because I'm a bit 'belt and braces' in general, I trimmed away the seam allowances of all the interfacing pieces to reduce bulk in the seams, and then herringbone stitched the interfacing to the coat pieces. I also placed 3" bias strips in the hem for weight and 'crispness'. Then I turned up the coat hem, and herringbone stitched it to the interfacing before inserting the lining.

The coat goes together pretty quickly - it's just a series of rectangles, no tricky round sleeves, etc. The only tricky bit is the junction of the sleeve seams under the arm. It took a couple of goes, but I got there in the end!:

Hard to see, but this is what the seams look like under the arms

I was considering interlining the coat for warmth, but then decided it didn't need it. Instead, I used a heavy-ish satin that I found in local shop in Dalston for a bargain £3 per metre. I don't think it's meant for lining (it seems to have some stretch in it) but I don't care because I like it!

I cut the lining using the same pattern pieces, but with the facings and collar accounted for. It was put together on the machine, but then applied to the coat by hand:

Where the lining meets the coat - you can see my little hand stitches

Where the lining meets the centre back facing, with a pleat for ease of movement.

I topstitched around the centre front collar and yoke, just like the original. I also avoided button holes by using big black press studs:

Top stitching and press stud detail

I made the cuffs a bit deeper than the original:

I think that's everything! As I said earlier, I've worn this coat constantly in this cold weather, and it's kept me warm and toasty. You can throw it on with anything, jeans and a t-shirt or something fancier. I'm actually going to miss wearing it once it gets warm!

See you soon!

Minerva Bloggers Network - Red Vinyl Valentine

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 00:33:00 +0000

For this months Minerva bloggers project, I've been hanging out with these ladies:

Simplicity 8412, from 1969 - I think the condition would be described as 'well loved'.

I made the coat in this pattern once before in the 90's. That time I used a black plastic-y snake effect PVC. I remember it wasn't totally successful, probably because the fabric was too flimsy for the style. I think I turned it into a shorter zip up jacket, then who knows where it ended up!. At least I don't have it any longer.

And did I learn my lesson about unsuitable fabric? Of course not!I found myself being drawn to shiny plastic yet again, this time in the form of red PVC from Minerva. This is much heavier, a more suitable coat weight. In fact, it reminds me of the stuff you see on outdoor cafe tables - sturdy and weatherproof!

And is it shiny! Here it is in full effect, gleaming in the night:

I'd never sewn with this sort of material before and realised through a number of test swatches (and mistakes)that there are several things you can't do:

no pinning - it leaves holes
no ironing, unless you want a sticky mess
no mistakes that involve unpicking - again, holes, etc
you can't ease in larger pieces to smaller pieces - this fabric just doesn't like it, making sleeve heads a pain! But you can stretch a smaller piece to fit a larger piece, to some extent.

One of the many holding techniques I used! Sellotape was also employed.

This fabric tests all of your fabric handling powers. It was a bit like sewing a big, thick, unruly plastic bag, or a tyre inner tube. It sticks to itself when you don't want it to, and sticks to the presser foot. I found out too late that a walking foot was needed for this project, but as my machine is old and no equivalent is made today, it's hard to find the right one. Instead, I employed a low-tech solution for top stitching - tissue paper:

I laid it on top of the seam, sewed through all the layers, then tore it away. And I used a lot of tissue for this coat because there was a lot of top stitching. As is the way with old patterns, there's little in the way of advice on seam finishes. The nature of the fabric is such that seams don't lie naturally flat. Ironing is out of the question, so I trimmed one side of the seam away on the wrong side, folded the other side over flat, and stitched through all the layers, using a top stitching thread.

I also stitched down the darts at the back neck and on the sleeve:

Close up of neck darts

Other than the hem, I didn't finish the seams at all because the fabric doesn't fray one bit!

Inside of the coat - no overlocking, pinking, zig zagging, etc, because there was just no need

I did finish the hem with some lovely satin bias tape for no other reason than it looked nice.

Coat hem

Because the coat is essentially a big plastic bag and therefore was going to be a bit - ahem - sweaty, lining was out of the question. For added 'ventilation', I made a sort of cotton dress shield (kids, ask your grannies...) from some scraps:

I attached this with the sleeve seam to the inside of the body of the coat, then applied 2 eyelets through all layers under each arm:

Eyelets inside...

...and on the outside

With no ironing allowed, that meant no interfacing. But I wanted to add some body and weight to the collar and front facings. Solution: a layer of lining inside the front facings, neck facings, and collar:

Inside the front facing

For the moment, I haven't used any closures because basically I can't decide what to use. Until I do, the belt will suffice:

I really, REALLY wanted to get some photos of the coat in the rain, but it's been pretty dry here in London recently. But for the sake of research, I found a way to test it's properties and can confirm they are up to standard:

And it was a complete fluke that this coincided with Valentines!

See you soon!

Minerva Bloggers Network - a Hacked Burda 122

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:28:00 +0000

Hello! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. Personally, I'm kinda glad it's over and now I have time to get on with stuff I really want to do, like sewing! And for my first project of 2015, I decided to try something new, namely a Burda PDF download. I won't make you read through to the end to find out how whether I enjoyed it or not - I didn't.

This is the object of my frustration:

Modell 122 Burda Style 09/2014

That flouncey insert on the front looks really odd to me, but I liked the idea of it and so I decided to move it to the back. I'd done this before for my December Minerva project, which I was really happy with. With that in mind I thought this dress would be a walk in the park construction-wise:

My Christmas tartan skirt

But I started to get a bad feeling when it took a whole afternoon to cut out and adjust the pattern:

SOOO MANY PIECES! And why no seam allowances??!!??

Now this isn't my first experience with PDF patterns, but this is the most complicated and involved item I've worked on. I used the adjustments which had worked well on the skirt, namely lengthening the skirt section, and swapping the flounce to the back. Because the bodice was an unusual cut, I made a partial muslin of the top half to make sure it fit. Glad I did - I ended up adding about 1/2 " to one set of seams over the bust.

Then it was off to cut my fabric, which was a lovely black and gold houndstooth Bengaline from Minerva.

I've never worked with this fabric before, but I liked how it's quite firm yet stretchy. The stretch was on the length of grain only, which means you have to be careful not to stretch seams that run vertically. It also needs quite a firm iron if you want seams to stay open flat. But the fabric was not the reason this project drove me crazy.

Here's how it came out:

(That's not my house by the way. It's the 100 Club, where we went the other night to see a friend's band play, and it seemed an ideal setting for blog photos)

The part that drove me crazy was the junction of seams from the lining and dress under the arms:

I lost track of how many times I unpicked and re-did this section. And forget about looking to the instructions for any help - 'minimal' is a generous description of the scant half side of paper which were labelled 'instuctions'.

After loads of clipping and ironing and trimming, I eventually got this section to lay flat. I suppose I can't lay all the blame on Burda - this dress used a method of costruction I've rarely used, where you attach the lining to the dress at the neck and arms before sewing the side and back seams. Then you pull it all through to the back, and sew the side seams of the lining and dress all in one go. Most of my experience is with old patterns, using old fashioned facings around the arms and neck. I got in such a tangle with it all I actually had to walk away from it on several occasions.

But lets not dwell on the negative! Here are some other details:

The curved seams at the front and back are really well placed for any adjustments you may need to make. The dress is overall very figure hugging, so definitely check your measurements against the pattern if you do make it.

The flounce at the back works well with the rigidity of the fabric:

Apologies for the creases...

And finally, I finished the hem with bias binding made from the lining and stitched it directly to the body of the dress:

Hem details

I can appreciate the popularity of using downloads for price - I think this one was under £4.00 - and I'm sure many sewists out there have succumbed to the immediacy of purchasing them with just the click of a button. But is all the extra work worth it? I've had great experiences with other PDF's, such as Capital Chic where there was obvious care and attention in the presentation and instructions. But this one left me annoyed, to the point where I can't help but remember this process whenever I wear this dress.

That's me not thinking of PDF's

And there you have it - see you soon!

Minerva Bloggers Network - Christmas Tartan Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Nicole Needles) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 03:42:00 +0000

Hello there! Well, winter is definitely here - all my gloves and scarves are out and in use, and the light fades at around 4.00 most days. There's a definite need for warm and woolly clothes. And with Christmas just around the corner, what better choice for a project for this time of year than a tartan woolen skirt.

I found this brilliant wool fabric from Minerva, which was labelled as a 'coat dress weight'. For a moment I thought it may be too chunky for what I had in mind, but when it arrived I realized it was just right - not too heavy, but just that little bit thicker than your average fabric. I wanted a sort of pencil skirt, but with something different about it. I took inspiration from a lovely flouncy skirt that Ozzy Blackbeard had recently made, as well as the trend in the 40's and 50's for floating panels and swing coats and jackets, where fullness and movement were often at the back of the garment.

I decided to use my own self drafted pencil skirt for the front half of the skirt, then combined it with this pattern from Burda for the back:

Modell 122 Burda Style 09/2014

I actually took the draped panel from the front of the dress, and shifted it to the back of my skirt.

And this is what I came up with:

I think this is the first time I've ever worked with a tartan or plaid. Whenever I've worked with any kind of repeating pattern like this, I usually find it's all about making choices as to which parts will match and which parts just won't, and how much effort you actually want to put in. As you can see from the picture above, I decided to concentrate on just making sure the horizontal lines were level, but there was no way the colours were going to meet up because of the nature of the tartan.

Centre back seam close up

But one thing I did do to make life easier (or maybe because sometimes I'm just really lazy) was to leave out side seams altogether:

No side seams!

Because the skirt was straight up and down at the sides with no flare, I was able to overlap the pattern pieces at the side and cut the skirt in one piece. There's just a seam at the centre back and darts at the tops of the sides where the front and back pieces curved. No side seams meant I was able to cut down on the amount of pattern matching I had to do - yay!

I also decided to match the waistband where I could at the centre front. What the pattern decided to do after that I left up to fate!:

Centre front waist band

The fabric is pretty soft, not too itchy, but I lined it to avoid any of that scratchiness:

And that's my Christmas tartan skirt, which I think will be perfect for Christmas day. I've already practised eating in it, and can report it can handle quite large amounts of food, so all's good there!

See you soon!