Deep-Maternity Sewing: Thoughts please..

Well my lovelies, the on-going adventure of 'what the hell is happening to my body?' (AKA pregnancy) continues... I must admit to being a bit frightened as next week I head blindly into the third trimester. Just how damn big and uncomfortable is there left for me to get?! Only one way to find out. 

So to calm myself I have decided to turn my thoughts to my guaranteed relaxant: sewing. Planning how  I'm going to approach any new phase of my life through what I may or may not sew always lends me some sense of control. For a while now I've been collecting maternity sewing patterns, which all seem to be for the last trimester, plus recently I've been donated some more (thanks lovely ladies!). When I went to get them out to consider and photograph I was surprised just how many I've collated! Now, my life doesn't require me to dress up very much these days (read: hardly ever), but I'd like to make at least one garment from my maternity pattern collection, otherwise collecting them would have been somewhat pointless I fear. Hopefully I can make something that'll be day-wear appropriate also if the sun shines, I can prevent myself from automatically heading for the jersey top/tracky-bottoms combo. I was hoping you'd be able to help me decide which to go for... Patterns are roughly organised in chronological order, from oldest to newest. 

Vogue 9876: This is a beaut, is it not? I snapped it up on eBay a couple of months ago. It's very 'dressy', fabric-hungry and potentially 'night-gowny' however...

Butterick 594: I'm totally NOT going to make this outfit. Who has time to make an entire lined jacket for only two/three months worth of potent wear (weather-permitting)? Not I. It's lovely though. The skirt has a really weird panelled flap contraption that I can't even be arsed to figure out. Ah, the advent of jersey really couldn't have come soon enough for preggers ladies, could it?!

Vogue 6497: Potentially a bit 'tenty', but with really lovely design details. Lots of options for customisation and embellishment as well me-thinks. What if those buttons were little gold ones on navy? Some anchor trim on the pockets?

Butterick 4722: Another interesting 1960's option. Those side tabs make me think of a children's painting tunic!

Butterick 2368: This one would require a bit of grading, but I might actually find the motivation for that considering the style is just a small spit away from being full-on nautical! I'm pretty sure I have some chunky silver anchor buttons that would look killer on this. It could also be a good layering item, with my mid-maternity stripes T-shirt underneath. 

Vogue 7382: Oh this is a cutey, isn't it?! I think the plainer version is white is the most appealing. How on earth has the illustrator avoided drawing buttons on those front plackets? Hmm, maybe they had to avoid giving the impression that there was a functioning button closure. I'd faux-button placket mine to the hilt!

Style 1503: Another potentially tent-y option, but I really like the options for contrast yoke/straps and for choosing a couple of awesome buttons for the front detail. I'd be more tempted to make a dress version if I could find a fabric from my stash that would work well. I think a dress would be more useful at this stage, unless I made the tunic length with sleeves. 

Style 4718: Hmm, you could do something super-cute with this sweetheart seamed design. Some piping? Inserted lace? Lace overlay over the yoke? Anyways, not sure I'll make this as it's way too small for me now. When I snaffled this pattern up at a vintage shop early on in my pregnancy I didn't have an inkling of kind of life of there own that my boobs were about to take on!

Simplicity 9427: Umm, with the belt tho isn't a million away silhouette-wise from my recent men's-shirt-to-maternity top refashion, IMO. Not that that refashion fits me anymore, damn you once again expanding bust and rib cage!!! I'm not sure I can be bothered to make something that looks like a shirt refashion from scratch.

Simplicity 3799: Yes I have shown you this pattern before. No I haven't used it yet. I'm going on a short break to Southern Spain in August which will probably feel about as hot as the surface of the sun, so thinking this might be worth making in the lightest flowiest stash fabric I can locate.  

Megan Nielsen Ruched Maternity Skirt: This pattern has been leant to me by the awesome Emily of The Botterman Empire. It could be awesome, but I'm must admit I haven't missed wearing skirts at all since I've been pregnant so may not make this. But I may. AGH!! Thoughts please!!!

My Sewing Pattern Hoard: Blouses

Spring has been doing that sneaky thing it tends to do at this time of year. Kind of popping up for a day and allowing us to get our hopes up, then disappearing for another week of grey, chilliness and rain. But those Spring glimpses have been wonderful and inevitably got me thinking about Spring/Summer wardrobes and the things I'd like to make and wear. One of my favourite sub-catagories of S/S clothing is blouses. I really like little retro, form-fitting blouses. The right style shows off my shape nicely and their structure usuallly creates a more flattering effect than T-shirts do. Lots of fun can be had with prints, buttons, piping, contrast sections and colour.

Time for me to rummage through the 'shelves of joy' which house my hoard of sewing patterns. I haven't got a lot of time for random sewing projects for myself these days, so your thoughts on which patterns merit a creation are very welcome. For lack of any other method, this batch from my sewing pattern hoard are very vaguely in date order, starting with the oldest.

This early 50s blouse is really lovely, but perhaps not quite my style? It's got a very cute little collar and front pleat or shoulder gather detailing. I'm thinking print rather than solid?

I'm very drawn to View B on this pattern pictured above. I LOVE that collar and can imagine Rizzo wearing something similar, though probably in black. Actually, I love this pattern so much that I've already cut it out in fabric. But evidentally not enough to have ignored the Winter weather around me and actually sewn it together! I not have started making this yet, but I'm pretty convinced it is NOT 'instant' though! I'm sure I'll get round to tackling this eventually. I've cut it out in a floral print, but I'd also like to see what it's like in a stripe with the direction doing something interesting on the collar.

I cannot believe no-one challenged my bid for this on eBay. Hello? Where were you?! Well, your loss... Only joking! It's nice though, eh? Not wildely dissimilar to the pattern above it, but with the all-important addition of grown-on, kimono style sleeves! Which is great and all, but we all know how much fabric those take up! Which version would you make and in what type of fabric?

You may recognise this pattern pictured above from a past creation. That's right, with considerable fit-tweeking, it became my Corazones Rockabilly blouse. Oh, how cute was my hair back then?! The other two views look appealing too: I feel there is a lot that could be done with piping on View A and a contrast collar for View B would be good.

I don't recall buying the pattern above, but I guess I must have. I did actual half-make View A before giving up. It was going really well, but it became apparent that the fabric I was using (really nasty 60s synthetic stuff) was going to feel horrible to wear AND be very see-through. This really isn't my 'style era' anymore, but the gathered neckline and roll collar of View A did look good, so I'm hanging on to this for potential future endeavours.

I'm not sure if the above garment is meant to be a jacket or a blouse, but I guess that's all relative to the type of fabric it's made up in. I kind of hate myself for being into something that is so 'on-trend right now', but I'm really into 70s style peplums at the moment, which is evident from the collection I've snaffled from eBay recently. How would you approach this pattern? I'm thinking a solid colour with contrast buttons? Turquoise and red maybe?

See? More peplums. But I think the genius of this particular garment lies in those crazy sleeve cuffs!!! Totally diner waitress. All sorts of contrast magic could be worked on this. But would you be able to fit a cardigan over those sleeves? Maybe a bolero shrug might make it over them.

Yet MORE peplum madness!!! I love this sun top for so many reason though, not just the peplum. I HAVE to make this for this coming Summer. Those few hot days that the UK achieves, and BAM! I'll be ready with this. But what to make it in? Thoughts please!

This is so 'Nine to Five' era, isn't it?! But look! View 4, it's got soooo much diner waitress potential hasn't it? Maybes some contrast collar and sleeve cuff action would really make my waitress uniform dreams come true. I love it in the stripes too, but unfortunately I don't have enough stripey fabric in my stash for this.

I don't remember buying this pattern either, but once again clearly I did. If you squint, you can't see the floral waterfall ruffle version quite so clearly and you can focus more of your attention to the cap sleeved view they've rendered in red polka dots. Although I've got a really high natural waist, I think I could adapt this and 'make it work'. A liberal smattering of contrast piping around the waist panel and on the collar and sleeve edges would really make this design pop.

A ha! This little blouse pattern is a tried and tested gem. From a 2008 edition of Burda magazine, I've used it twice before, once for my Bird blouse and then again with fit adjustments for the Ship Shape blouse. I've loved that Ship Shape blouse so hard that the collar has begun to fray and the printed design on the buttons is wearing off. I think, out of all of them, this blouse pattern would be the best one for encorporating small bits of amazing fabric that you don't quite have enough of for an entire blouse. I can feel another one of these blouses coming on...

Ah, the Sencha. It barely needs an introduction. As previous explained, I've altered and simplified this pattern so that I'm really happy with it. But seeing as the blue printed version didn't fit my best mate, I've got it back for when I loose enough of my Christmas-belly to make use of it. With that and my Sailor Sencha, I'm not sure I need another of this style. I'm unlikely to stop making them for other people though!

As I say, any thoughts, insights or over-views you have about these patterns, please don't be afraid to pipe up!

School Boy Trousers

A few weeks ago, a tragic washing machine-based accident rendered my beloved black sailor trousers all shrunken, unwearable and basically dead. To be fair, they were getting really worn and faded from a lot of wear so I was ok about it. But the incident left me with only two pairs of trousers to my name (my denim sailor trousers and some secondhand Topshop black jeggings that had a rip that needed fixing to make them wearable). I spend about 80% or 90% of my time in trousers, particularly in Autumn/Winter and particularly at work, so I realised it was time to turn my attention away from making piles of baby trousers and make myself some damn trousers instead.

I carried the plan with me for a while, unsure of what direction to take. Then Ali's fantastic post chronicling her trouser-sewing endeavours not only gave me a kick up the butt by seeing all her effort, but it also reminded me that I, too, have the pattern pictured above! I'm a fan of the Built By Wendy/Simplicity patterns but had only got round to making one rushed project-fail from this pattern since I'd got it a few years ago. Time to have another bash.

I think the main thing that puts me off making lots of trousers, as Ali noted, is that it is so damn hard to achieve a successful fit without heaps of effort and toiles. And fly fronts, I avoid those like the plague usually. But the style of trouser from this pattern would look funny converted to a side zip, so I decided that if I was going to bite the bullet and make a fly front, I should at least make one toile (pictured above). Now, you rarely see pictured of toiles (muslins, mock-ups, etc.) on this blog, for two reasons: they aren't very interesting, AND I almost never make them anyway. So I've included the picture above as a testimonial to this rare occurrence.

I made a size 14, and thankfully my uncharacteristic toiling behaviour was rewarded as the overall fit came out really well. I made the toile without the pocket mouth so I could draw my own directly onto the toile where I liked it, from which I made my own pocket position pattern (why, I'm not entirely sure because the new one I created is more or less exactly the same as the pattern's original - I just can't leave things be!). From the toile I also decided to add a tiny bit of extra width to the thigh area, which I then removed again during construction when a mid-way fitting proved it unnecessary. Plus I added 1 cm extra to the front rise measurement.

I was super-intrigued to see how this pattern would look at the rear. I had my concerns because God (or whoever is responsible for these things) has been quite generous to me in that department, and the back pattern pieces have no back darts so I was concerned the shaping wouldn't be accommodating, but actually it looked fine.

As you may know, I try to sew exclusively from my stash, and this piece of synthetic blend grey stuff had been in there since I 'appropriated' it from a crappy clothing company job I had back in 2007. The fabric is pretty light weigth and really soft, and the synthetic quality means it doesn't really crease (win). I didn't quite have enough for the whole garment, so I've used some contrast floral cotton (Liberty I believe, if you happen to be one of those Liberty-print festishists) for the inside waistband and inside pocket bags. You can see the odd sneak of it when the pocket mouths crease open a bit, but I don't mind the odd flash of something being visible from the outside.

As for the finish, I have to say I created the kind of fly front that dreams are made of. Almost flawless. I bypassed the pattern's fly front instructions and instead followed the directions once given to me by a professional and incredibly experienced sample machinist. There's only one bit I don't understand in the notes I took, but I am unable to ask her to clarify as she worked at the same place I mentioned before where I got the fabric from back in 2007, and I no longer have any connection with that place. Anyways, I struggled to get a good pic so you'll have to trust me.

The overall fit is what I believe fashion lexicon would term 'boyfriend cut', by which I mean they are quite hipster-y and low slung. Though maybe not because the legs aren't particularly wide. I really like the fit of the legs actually, and the whole garment is really comfortable. Like, too comfortable. A couple of times during their maiden wearing, I panicked because it felt like I was still wearing my pyjamas! However, I don't think this will be a 'go-to' pattern for me. I may crack it open again in the Spring to make a capri version, but I probably won't make another long-legged version. I just don't think this style of trouser fits with my current style of dressing well enough that I would require more than one pair. But the main criteria of making a wearable, work-friendly pair of trousers has been fulfilled and the fact that they are actually comfy is a major bonus. I may even consider making another toile one day (though not any time soon!).

My Sewing Pattern Hoard: Outerwear

It's time for another installment of 'My Sewing Pattern Hoard'. I've fully abandoned dreams of whipping up a quick playsuit this year as I don't know about where you are, but round my way the mornings have definately starting to feel a bit nippy recently. Our summer was pretty rubbish, but I'm not complaining about the on-set of Autumn, you know where you are with Autumn. No-one complains that you have to put on a jacket, it's as it should be. You can still get some lovely days, and they are a bonus, but if it rains, that's ok too as it's kind of to be expected.

So, the chilly mornings are making me wistful for more of a variety of jackets to choose from and I've almost forgotten the gruling mission my navy wool coat project was so I've decided to dig out my outerwear patterns and put them up for discussion. Basically, I feel that if you live in UK, any coat or jacket you make that fits is never going to be time wasted. My navy wool coat, leopard coat and yellow jacket see far more wears than any other garment I've ever made, so I'm hoping you'll help make some decisions regarding this Autumn/Winter's sewing efforts:

I'm not sure how I feel about this coat. It looks quite a clean and simple shape, would it look like a little girl's coat though? I tried making the dress from this pattern and the bust shaping was for a comically high bust point. That shouldn't be a problem for the coat though as it's got intriguing shoulder darts instead. What colour/fabric would you make this in? I do love the potential for showcasing a set of seriously amazing buttons though.

LOVE this cape pattern. I'd love to make the shorter length in navy or black wool with the epaulettes and gold buttons! In fact, I've already traced this pattern ready for a ridiculously large piece of secondhand wool to fall into my lap!

Once again, not sure how I feel about the above coat pattern. In a similar vein to the top pattern, the buttons would be so eye catching!

I used this pattern back in 2008 when I made a yellow curtain version of the view on the right. Initially, I didn't wear it much, but then I was living in deepest darkest Essex at the time. Not a region known for its tolerance towards sartorial difference. But over the last year there have been months when I've worn it almost daily. Actually, I'm currently working on another version of this pattern with bracelet-length sleeves. I'm trying to draft a lining pattern for it, so don't hold your breath to see the finished project. I'm convinced it's going to be amazing though! (Hint: anchors will be involved!)

Hmmm, now this jacket could look a bit prim and 'twin set and pearls', but imagine this little blighter with some kitschy appliqued detailing on the front, like my swallow jacket, perhaps. I'm viewing this jacket as a kind of 'canvas for kitsch'. What would you apply?

I was really into this jacket pattern when I saw it on ebay, but now I'm not so sure. I have a sneaking suspicion that if you invested the time needed to make this jacket, that the outcome would be very different from the envelop. I can't even figure out what's up with the CF near the neck. Does it actually curve towards the start of the collar, or has the illustrator used some artistic licence here? Who can say? I do not have it in me to give the time needed to figuring it out. Not this year at least.

Not, anyway, whilst this cheeky little thing sits within my grasp:

HOW nice it this?! Oh, I want to make it in some incredible 1950s floral furnishing fabric that most likely will go with none of the rest of my clothes. Or in red like the chica in the top left corner. This makes me want to go through all my buttons to find the best big odd button and design the rest of the jacket around it. What would you like to see it made in?

Now I had such high hopes for this pattern that I poured over it and gazed at the line drawings on the inside sheets for an age. It's got two different body variations, three different neck options (one round neck and two different collars) and about a million different sleeve options. AND you can showcase some of those incredible big buttons. I imagined making hundreds of jackets from this pattern, and with the various combinations possible in different fabrics they'd all look totally different. I did a toile of the longer length with round neck and elasticated short sleeve and I was not impressed. The neck came out so wide that you would struggle to match it with an appropriate top or blouse to go underneath. The elastic of the gathered sleeves sat way too close to your armpit and the whole fit was kind of shapeless, neither fitted nor boxy. Now I see on the illustrations how far the jackets sit away from the body, I'd say that that's actually pretty accurate. Not what I was hoping for. I may go in for another go though, and start with the size below my normal one.

Umm, is this a pattern for a versatile, practical jacket waiting to be deployed, or a pattern for the most unimpressive dull garment to ever have precious sewing time wasted on it? (BTW, I was thinking red and white check wool, NOT silver mock-croc!).

I've also bought the PDF for this jacket from Burdastyle, so that's an option too. Coats and jackets take such a large amount of effort and time to create, please help me decide what pattern/s I should invest my project time into!

My Sewing Pattern Hoard: Playsuits

Lately I've been thinking about how to catalogue my expanding (largely vintage) sewing pattern collection. To be honest, this is something of an impossible task because my pattern collection is generally in a constant state of being added to and whittled down, but I still think trying to do so would be a valuable endeavour. My patterns currently reside on a shelf at work, so unless I go and flick through them, I often forget what I've actually got. I try to sew (almost) exclusively with secondhand fabric and textiles, which is obviously more difficult as a starting point than if I allowed myself to wander into a fabric shop and pick whatever I wanted in whatever quantity I needed. As the fabric lengths I get hold of are finite, it's often tricky to marry up those pieces of fabric with suitable patterns, so listing my patterns here might help that process a little.

Also, reminding myself of the patterns I already have might steer me away from purchasing more when so many in my collection have yet to be tried out. I'm going to comment on each pattern, which should help me figure out what appeals to me and what the issues are with each. If anyone reading these posts has any useful comments, they will be gratefully received as they are likely to help my analysis still further.

I plan to tackle this task in catagories (though I'm going to have to sub-divide the 'dress' catagory somehow!) and today's is 'playsuits'. It's almost the beginning of August, not that we've had much in the way of a summer so far, but any remaining opportunity for making and wearing such a warm weather item is fast disappearing so I thought it'd be a good place to start. Vintagey inspired playsuits are all over the high street and internets right now, so I found these original vintage 50s playsuit images (and Dita) as a bit of scene-setting inspiration. Not that I'm necessarily looking to create a completely vintage/retro feel garment, but let's face it, if I'm going to make a playsuit, it probably will have that flavour!

For the purposes of this post (and to not confuse my tired brain) I'm defining 'playsuits' as a one piece item, the bottom of which is shorts, meant for summer. I'm not including those shorts and bra/bikini type separates, or one-piece items where the bottom part is a skirt. Perhaps those type of outfits/garments could equally lay claim to the title 'playsuit', but I've drawn my line in the sand. I guess you could also refer to them as jumpsuits but that tends to conjure more '80s type garments than I feel I'm aiming for here. (Having said that, it was Veronica Darling's incredible candy-striped '80s jumpsuit that got me even considering this whole garment genre in the first place, but I think if I'm venturing into this trend, I'd best head for a more mid-20th century vibe.)

Let's start with my most recent pattern acquisition:

I bid hard for this beauty, completely blowing all my usual self-imposed ebay bidding limits. But it's such a nutty pattern. I didn't include all the line drawings, but the panels and style lines in the bodices are unusual, bordering on bizarre. It calls itself a 5-piece holiday emsemble and although I have yet to fully investigate, I'm assuming all three bodice options could be paired with the shorts to create a playsuit.

It was the buttons and contrast collar that initially lured me in:

But on closer inspection, it was this strapless bodice alternative that really got my heart racing (it looks similar to the beautiful picture at the top of this post, don't you think?). I LOVE those crazy style lines. Might be hell on earth to fit. If I make this, I'll probably add straps like my Summer Holiday Dress's so I can wear a normal bra and comfortably omit the boning that I noticed the pattern requests for this bodice option:

HOW beautiful is the artwork on this pattern? One day I'll have a sewing room and I'll frame and display my favourite pattern illustrations and I'm pretty sure this'll be one of them. Unlike the pattern above, no-one challenged my ebay bid of this stunner and I snared it for bugger all! Seriously. Where were you all?!:

Anyways, what I don't like is the pleating at the front of the shorts, so if I deploy this one, I'll probably try and frankenstein this top with some other bottom section. However. This pattern is labelled size 14, but it wasn't until I got it in my grubby mitts that I realised it pertains to a 32" bust, which will mean some grading and hefty alteration if my body measurements are to be alligned to its!

A more modern interpretation that has done the rounds a bit in blogland:

I like the cross-over top version with the shorts, as illustrated in green. Having read mixed reviews of this on Pattern Review, I started some preliminary toiling and the initial signs are not great. It's one of those patterns that has been published in two size chunks, I went for the smaller that goes up to a size 12, as per the measurements on the back of the envelope, but maybes I should have gone for the larger pattern and started with a size 14. I can probably tweek the copy I have, but either way I really can't see how you are meant to get in and out of this without a major struggle. I'm really not sure about this pattern, any opinion?

An older, '40s one:

I was lucky enough to acquire this pattern as part of the Brighton meetup and fabric swap last month. I'm slightly allarmed by the shoulders, and in general how the proportions of the illustration bear so little resemblance to what I see in the mirror; I just haven't a clue how this would look if made. Considering the summer weather/time restrictions I'm facing, the amount of toiling required makes me think this isn't the playsuit pattern I should start with.

So, lovely readers, how should I approach this? Is there enough summer left for this to be a worthwhile endeavour? What's going to look the least silly on a curvy 31-year-old whose not afraid of a tiramisu or 3? Maybe I should use the top from a halter neck dress pattern instead? One that potentially requires less of a faff? Have you made/fitted a playsuit? Nightmare or joyous success? Help!!!!!