My Retro Cardigan Craze

I'm not the only one on the receiving end of new cardis round here. Initially, I bought the Brindille & Twig Retro cardigan pattern because, like many babies, Frankie was going through a phase of not liking clothes being pulled over his head. He seems to be largely over that now, however they've turned out to be so useful and fun to make that I can't stop...

Pattern:

The Retro cardigan pattern is a fabulous unisex style which can be fastened with buttons or press studs/poppers/snaps. It is crazy quick and simple to construct, particularly if you omit the pockets, like I have done. You can basically stitch this up entirely on an overlocker/serger, and the only thing that slows you down is applying interfacing to the snap/buttonhole area of the neckband, and applying/making said snaps/buttonholes. 

The pattern is sized to fit between 0 months and 6 years, although, as with all the B&T patterns I've tried, I found this to come up a size or two larger than stated. Both the rainbow and navy/white striped cardigans here are size 6-9 months, but at almost 12 months, Frankie still fits them fine (he's about 8 months in the picture below). The cardigan Dolores is modelling, that we made as a birthday present for  her friend Arthur, is size 3-4 years (Dolores and Arthur are almost four). 

(image source: Brindille & Twig)

If you are making a buttoned version, I recommend you make the buttonholes on the neckband BEFORE attaching it to the rest of the garment, instead of making them at the end. The neckband is pretty narrow, so it'll be easier to do it first. One thing I noticed about this pattern is that the position of the top button/snap is a little weird, IMO. It is positioned on the curved part of the neckband, so when the the finished garment is fastened, it doesn't sit quite as flat and in line as it otherwise might. I adjusted that for the grey/black leopard print version and it sits better (I reduced the number of buttons because I only had four of the green I wanted to use).   

My only other criticised of this pattern is that the widths of the neckband, waistband and cuffs remain the same throughout the sizes. Looking at these pictures has made me realise that I'd prefer the waistband to be wider for the larger sizes, something I'll amend for future versions. 

Fabrics:

It seems to work in lots of different types of knit. The rainbow striped fabric is a kind of fleece-lined sweatshirt stuff that feels very cosy that came from the Village Haberdashery yonks ago. The navy/white stripe is some super soft interlock that was harvested from a thrifted T-shirt I got for 50p. The grey/black leopard print is ponte di roma, some scraps leftover from my Jenna cardi. The neckbands, waistbands and cuffs are all made from ponte di roma, but you could use ribbing, medium/heavy-weight jersey or interlock.  

I added a little ribbon tag to the side seam of the navy/white striped version to make that fairly plain garment a bit more interesting. It's possibly the most 'normal looking' baby's/children's garment I've ever made! The ribbon came from Textile Garden, they don't seem to have this one in stock any more but there are heaps of other lovely ones to choose from. I bought the white and red snaps from eBay, and the vintage green plastic buttons were 50p from a charity shop.

Thoughts:

These cardigans are one of my very favourite things to make at the moment. I love that they can be made in different weights and types of fabric to be suitable for different activities and types of weather. They're a very useful layer for the unpredictable and changeable climate that we live in. I've got some fine knit jumpers and cardigans that have gone a bit out of shape that I plan to cut up and try with this pattern next. 

Peak Anchor

According to Pat (Mr SoZo), I've finally done it. I've finally reached peak anchor. I'll grant him that this garment does feature A LOT of them, but I'm pretty sure this won't be the last anchor-clad item that sneaks its way into my wardrobe... 

Pattern:

The truth is that, since I made them, rarely a day passes where I'm not wearing either my navy or mustard Cabernet cardigan. One or the other seem to go with just about every garment I own, and they are so comfy and easy to wear. I even wear my first, less successful, turquoise version a hellofalot when I'm at home (like right now in fact). So it wasn't a giant conceptual leap to decide to make another. 

For this version, I decided to go use the width of the button stand/neckband from my navy (#2) version, and the width of the front panels from my mustard (#3) version. Like all my versions, I stabilised the shoulder seams with twill tape, and stitched the buttonholes on the button stand/neckband before attaching it to the rest of the garment, not at the end of the project. Sometimes it's so pleasing to make a garment that barely requires you to think during it's construction. Kind of an anti-challenge.

Fabric:

I spied this incredible anchor jacquard Ponte de Roma at the Fabric Godmother open day a couple of months ago, along with the ivory colour way. At the time, the ivory sung out to me the strongest and I bought 1.6m with cardigan dreams. When I got it home, although I still loved it, I begun to regret my decision. I realised the navy version as a cardigan would fit into my wardrobe better. So when I went to visit Josie (Fabric Godmother's owner) a few weeks later, I got some of the navy too. It's not cheap (£18 p/m) but it's the loveliest fabric to work with and wear: stable but with a soft handle. And it's really wide so I got a Cabernet out of it with plenty left to make some bits for Frankie too. 

Thoughts:

Yes, I did add anchor buttons too. What did you expect?

Cost:

Pattern: PDF $12 (£8.37) from here. I've used it four times now so I'm counting my pattern cost as £2.00 for this project

Fabric: £18 p/m from here. I used 1.6m for this project and got a little discount so cost me about £25
Total: £27

I'm really out of touch with high street prices these days, but I'm guessing that's in the ball park of what you'd expect to pay for a cut-and-sew cardi? However, I also got the added benefits of having the fun of making it, being able to tweak the fit to my personal specifications AND being able to ladle as many anchors into this project as feels correct.

Free Sewing Patterns Update and a Plan

Since I published My Favourite Free Children's Sewing Patterns post back in February, I've spent even more time trying to unearth the nicest and most useful sewing patterns and tutorials for children's clothing that designers have generously made available for free. I feel like I've followed every link on every blog post or Pinterest image to leave no stone unturned. Thanks also to the commenters on that post who gave me a heads up of some great ones I hadn't seen before.

I've updated the original post by adding lots more great-looking patterns that I'd like to try, and removing a couple of others where I've found better (like a multi-sized version) or more appealing (to me) alternatives. Please remember, this list is based on my own personal tastes, and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every free pattern available out there.

I've also become mildly obsessed with seeing if it's possible to make a child's whole entire wardrobe using just free patterns and tutorials, so I've tried to include something for almost every type of garment a child would need. Aside from coats/jackets (understandably), knitwear (surely there are free children's knitting patterns out there though?!) socks and tights (although leggings can be a great alternative to tights), for certain sizes, I reckon you could!

I also want to mention that lots of kind pattern designers have released heaps of potentially wonderful free patterns out there that are available in just one or a couple of sizes, like this dressing gown/bath robe and this toddler jacket for example, which may be just what you need for the child you're sewing for. I haven't included any of those (Made by Rae's baby tights being the exception) because I want this list to be a useful resource for as many sewers/sewists as possible, so I have only included patterns that are available in a decent range of sizes.

So here's my plan. I'm going to start a new monthly feature on this blog where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes a women's one. I'll publish those posts every first Friday of the month, timed to hopefully provide inspiration for some who plan to get their sew-on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive pass time. Plus, I don't think that home-sewn clothes need to always work out more expensive than the shop-bought equivalent. I'm pretty skint since my maternity allowance ran out, so this is a theory I'm keen to test! Therefore, for these projects I'm going to use my stash of unwanted garments and fabric scraps left over from previous projects wherever possible. Let the PDF downloading commence...

Breton Perfection: The Gable Top

I know it's a bold claim, but I think I may have made the perfect basic knit top. I actually made this at the beginning of summer, but it's been so warm that I've only worn it once so far. But now that Autumn and long-sleeves weather is just round the corner, I felt it's time to share it with you...

Pattern:

It could be argued (and often is by me) that Jennifer Lauren's Bronte top pattern is the best knit top pattern ever. Well, hold all your calls, because her Gable top pattern is clearly another contender for that title. It has a 50's style slash neckline that I didn't realise I needed in my wardrobe until Jennifer released this pattern. She really is so skilled at making vintage/retro stylings super wearable.

(image source: Jennifer Lauren Handmade)

By comparing my (well-used) Bronte top pattern pieces, for which I use the straight size 12, I was able to ascertain that for the Gable I would need the size 10 at the top and blending to the size 12 at the waist and hips. I also pinched out a couple of centimetres at the waist to account for my short-waisted-ness. When I tried it on, I found the shape slightly too boxy for my personal preference, so I shaved away at the sleeve and side seams here and there with my overlocker until I was happy with the fit. What I'll probably do for future versions is make a Frankenstein Bronte/Gable using the neckline of the latter with the sleeve and side seam shaping of the former.

Fabric:

As Jennifer's versions prove, this pattern is kind of screaming out to be made in stripes. Now I can't pretend that my wardrobe was a stripe-free zone before I made this, but the recent demise of my slinky Breton top, and my striped maternity top being too stretched out to bother reworking, meant that a new Breton top would be a welcome addition. After a lot of searching, I finally found this lovely medium-weight cotton/lycra blend jersey at the Ditto fabrics warehouse closing down sale/Portslade sewing meetup in April. It has enough body to keep that neckline in shape, but the lycra content means it has excellent stretch and recovery so is super comfy to wear.

I also want to show you the back neck label (Gable-label!) that I added. It's a folded over piece of printed grosgrain that was lurking in my stash. I have no idea where it came from, otherwise I'd go back to its source and buy up their whole supply so I could add these to everything I ever sew.

Thoughts:

The presence of this top is making the thought of cooler weather acceptable to me. I'm looking forward to incorporating it into different outfits, and I've got a couple of other garment projects in the pipeline that I'm hoping will pair with it well. If you're looking for anymore reason to try the Gable top pattern, then check out Jane Makes's wonderful (non-stripy) versions. 

Harem Romper Cuteness

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first blog post I've published with Frankie modelling! Let's do this thing...

Pattern:

If Brindille & Twig had a fight with Ottobre design for the title of 'Best children's wear pattern designer' in the knit catagory, who would win? Tricky to say. Anyway, this is the former's harem romper pattern, which spans sizes from preemie to 6T. Having tried five of their patterns now, I find that B&T patterns are consistently on the large side. I made these for Frankie when he was 9 months old so I chose the 6-9 month size. He's now almost 11 months old and there's still heaps of wear left in them.

What I love about this pattern is that you can make the whole damn thing using just an overlocker/serger. No need to flit back and forth between sewing machines. It makes construction incredibly quick; I think whipped up one of these in two hours, including cutting the fabric out. That was especially useful when our washing machine went on the blink and he had nothing to wear the following morning!

The pattern includes options for popper/press stud or tie fastenings at the shoulder, but I can't imagine anything more annoying than trying to tie shoulder ties on a wriggling baby after each nappy change. I'm tempted to try buttons/buttonholes too on future version to use some cute buttons from my stash. And in case you're wondering, there aren't any poppers/press studs round the crotch so you have to pull the whole thing down to do a bum change, but it's not as difficult as I thought it'd be.

For Frankie at least, I found that the fit is slightly off: the top part is much looser than the legs. Granted he's has got pretty chunky thighs, but even so. For future versions, I'll blend between sizes and choose the leg width and ankle cuffs from two sizes larger than the top part. Currently, I'd describe it more as a 'leggings romper' than a 'harem romper'.

Fabric:

If you've visited my blog previously, you may have seen these fabrics in action before (this pattern is a great scrap/small-piece buster in the smaller sizes). The cheetah fabric is from Girl Charlee, which I've used previously for this breastfeeding Agnes top (yes, we have accidentally worn matching outfits!). This fabric is incredibly soft with excellent stretch and recovery, so it is absolutely perfect for baby wear. 

I made Dolores some pyjama bottoms from the monsters-and-snacks fabric as part of a myfabrics.co.uk promotion. She's worn them heaps and they still look great, so I knew that the fabric would be super comfy for this romper pattern and launder well. The pink colour way is still available, if you're interested. 

Thoughts:

Some might argue that sewing for babies isn't really worth it as they grow out of clothing so rapidly. However, this pattern would be an exception. If you make them slightly too big initially, they will receive plenty of wear for the very little sewing time required to make them. They can be worn on its own or layered with a vest/bodysuit underneath on chillier days. 

And simply by choosing fabric that is even slightly more interesting than the baby wear selection available in most clothing shops (not hard), they cannot fail to garner compliments. I don't think he's ever worn these outside the house without someone commenting on his outfit. One women practically offered to buy the cheetah print one off him whilst he was out with his dad once! If you follow me on Instagram (@sozoblog), expect to see more of these in the future...

Summer Sewing Successes and a Fail

I hope you've been having a great summer/winter* (*delete as appropriate). I've been having a fun (and exhausting) summer trying to entertain my mini peops whilst Pat has been working and studying hard. We're going on a little late-summer break for a few days tomorrow, so I want to quickly share with you the last of my summer sewing projects. 

I begun this season with next to no seasonally appropriate clothes, but thanks to some strategic sewing, based in part on my findings from #MMMay17, I've been able to put together a decent selection of warm weather stuff. I've almost exclusively been wearing:

• anchor Luna pants
• flora and fauna Luna pants
• blue and black jeggings
• cheetah breastfeeding top (with shortened sleeves)
• stripy breastfeeding top made from a thrifted maxi dress (currently unblogged but can be seen on my Instagram feed, @sozoblog)
• African wax fabric Scout tee
• stripy Scout tee
• short-sleeved Agnes top
• denim Tova top
• navy Cabernet cardi
• leopard Jenna cardi

All but the last four items are recent makes and they reflect the changes my personal style seems to be going through. Out with the retro-y, Rockabilly-lite, and in with whatever-you'd-call-it. Anyway, as great as these pieces have been, what I found I was still missing was really warm weather clothes. I still didn't have any sleeveless tops or shorts (which is evident thanks to my pasty white upper arms and legs!). To fill those gaps, I made these last two summer projects, which also may be my favourites!

Top:

Whilst planning my first version of this pattern, I'd spied some other sewers on the interwebs leaving the sleeves off the Delphine et Morissette La Brune pattern. I decided to follow suit. I'm not a fan of my upper arms, but a sleeveless La Brune is a great solution because the shoulder ruffles provide a focal point that steers the eye away from that area of my arms. Witchcraft.  

I was able to squeeze this top out of the remainder of anchor print light weight denim that I used to make my first pair of Luna pants. It's quite a loose weave, which on the one hand is ideal for a loose fitting summer top (and much softer than the stiff poplin I used for my first version of this pattern), but on the other made the ruffle application a bit of a headache as the raw edges had a tendency to stretch out due to all the handling. I did the best job I could, and I don't think anyone would notice that it has bubbled a little next to the ruffles unless I forced them to!

Once the top was nearly complete, I tried it on and decided to cut a tiny bit away at the bottom of the armhole. I then bound the raw edges in the same way as the neck hole using the method used for the neckline of the Scout tee. I bought some ready-made bias binding rather than making my own because I didn't think the loosely woven denim would provide enough stability to the neck and arm holes. Aside from omitting the sleeves, I also made the shoulder ruffles even narrower than I did on my first version, and I now think the proportions are spot on.  

Shorts:

For the shorts, I also revisited a sewing pattern I had previously had a go at. When I tried the Sweet shorts pattern three years ago, I found the sizing to be way too big. So this time I started with a whole size smaller, and made a toile (muslin) that Claire kindly helped me fit. I ended up making a number of changes:

• started with a size smaller than my measurements correlated to
• made the leg length about 1" shorter
• added width around the waist (about 5cm in total at the top, if memory serves, blended out to nothing at the hips)
• shortened the front rise by about 1cm
• pinched out some fullness from the back leg at the hem

I made them in this navy suiting that has been in my stash forever. I have no idea what the fibre content is, all I know is that it doesn't need ironing (whoop whoop!). I still have a ton of this fabric left, so I'm sure it'll pop up on this blog in another incarnation some day. I used some turquoise jap silk from my stash for the pocket bags but did a French seam around the curve for a neater finish than overlocking would have resulted in. 

I added extra topstitching in a few places as the fabric wasn't super-responsive to pressing and I wanted all the seam allowances to lay flat. I think topstitching down the seam allowance along the front rise has resulted in some sort of creases radiating outwards from that area, but it's probably only noticeable if I stand stock still and pointed them out to you. The other tiny flaw that something is compelling me to share with you, is that my top and bobbin threads must have been from different reels because the topstitching that keeps the hem facings in place is a slightly different tone of navy to the rest of the topstitching.

Anyway, those things aside, I'm not sure that these photos are doing them justice but these shorts have a really smart, polished look IRL. They are still a bit big, but I expect to gain some weight once Frankie finishes breastfeeding, so that's fine. A lot of work went into them, as much as you'd put into a nice pair of trousers, so I hope I'll get many years of wear out of them.

FAIL:

In the interest of equilibrium, I thought I'd share a recent FAIL project with you too. Sewing bloggers rarely seem to share the project attempts that didn't work out. I usually don't either because I doubt it's very interesting to you readers, and also because I just want to forget about a FAIL as quickly as possible! But I'm worried that without ever sharing a FAIL, those who are new to the sewing game may get an inaccurate sense that every sewing project will, or should, work out. Lessons always have to be learnt that way, it's an important (if annoying) part of improving. But due to my new policy of toiling every-damn-sewing-project that doesn't use a TNT pattern these days, I've managed to avoid having a FAIL for ages. 

So my plan here was to make a top to prevent my flora and fauna Luna pants from being a wardrobe orphan. As I've mentioned previously, I've been trying different styles and silhouettes lately (which led me to making the Luna pants), so I decided to try the free Deer and Doe Plantain T-shirt pattern. I must have mentioned my plan to Claire, because she very sweetly printed it out for me, it's one of her absolute favourites and she's made a million. I had this light-weight, slinky coral jersey in my stash (also from Claire! What a friend she is!) and I thought the colours would work well. But that's about all that did work well...

I tried it on before hemming (see above) and it was a total 'meh'. It didn't skim my figure like some sort of contemporary French siren as I'd hoped, instead it felt really frumpy. I fiddled with the fit a bit by taking in the side seams here and there, and in the end I salvaged the neckline and reworked it entirely using the TATB Agnes top pattern that I've have many successes with previously. But even that didn't work! The fabric was so thin that it showed EVERYTHING, including the exact shape and position of my breast pads, every detail of my bra, the ingredients of my most recent meal. I was really annoyed because I'd made a nice job of the neckline, but I'd had to finally admit defeat and throw it into the textile recycling bag. GAH.

Thoughts:

The anchor La Brune and navy Sweet shorts have been such a success that I'm firmly over the coral Plantain FAIL. I've worn this outfit as often as the weather has allowed since their completion, both feel really comfortable, even though the shorts sit a bit higher on my waist than I'm used to. And the sleeveless-ness of the top feels so nice that I can't wait to make more sleeveless tops for next summer. I fancy trying Jennifer Lauren Handmade's Hunter tank, which should work well with these shorts thanks to the high waistline, plus either Made by Rae's Gemma tank or Wiksten's tank top. Plus next year I really should finally make the Deer and Doe Chataigne shorts pattern that has been lurking in my stash for a couple of years. 

What about you? What have been your most successful recent warm weather sewing projects? Any FAILS you'd like to vent about?! 

Berry Bubble Shorts

So the sad fact is that these shorts are not popular round here. You want to know how many times they've been worn in the four or five months since I made them? Twice. You want to know how long they took to sew? Forever. 

Pattern:

I think I discovered the Berry Bubble shorts pattern via Pinterest, and bought it during a mini-splurge I had last summer, along with the Sally dress pattern. It's designed by Rebecca Page, who recently (wisely) changed her website's name from Mummykins and Me, and it's also available for women (and dolls!) as well.

I'm a big fan of a bubble short for little girls, and this pattern looked like a particularly polished version, with lots of possibilities for contrast fabrics and awesome buttons. But BE WARNED, this is NOT the sewing pattern to reach for if you want to knock something up quick the night before you take your kid on holiday. 

If memory serves, it's comprised of ten (TEN!) separate pattern pieces. I'm used to kid's shorts patterns that are made of a back and a front and that's it. And they're fully lined, with lots of neat topstitching. Oh, and did I mention that they have adjustable waist elastic?! These are some fancy kids shorts alright. I made the size 3 (which has come out pretty big, I think they'll easily fit her until she's five) and found the construction fun but pretty fiddly, I wouldn't want to try sewing any of the smaller sizes.  

Fabric:

If you've been following my blog for a while you will have seen this grey fabric a few times before. I first used it for these cropped trousers (never worn), then this Tova tunic (which I've worn sooo many times, pregnant and not) and then these nautical palazzo pants (which I've also worn masses but are no longer my style). This is last of that fabric, I promise! I think it's some type of amazing, fantastic quality flannel: incredibly soft and doesn't really crease, both of which make it great for children's wear. What doesn't make it perfect for children's wear, apparently, is the colour. Even when it's fully lined in pretty floral pink cotton lawn. When I first made them, her dad offered to help her put them on and she replied, 'No, please no'! Yes, you read it right: she begged him not to put them on her. 

Thoughts:

As I say, Dolores has chosen to wear them twice. Once, when we went for a day out in Brighton (pictured here), and today when we went to the beach. Only today, she didn't choose them exactly. I usually give her a couple of outfit options that are weather-and-activity-appropriate, but today I just picked out an outfit for her that included her favourite T-shirt, and to my surprise she put it all on without a fight (she may have been distracted by something else!).

So, although they involved a lot of work at a time when my sewing opportunities are limited, plus the recipient isn't falling over herself to make use of them, I still look on this project with a lot of fondness. There's something really satisfying about making a garment from lovely fabric that involves lots of meditative, neat topstitching. I made them whilst binge-listening to the S-town podcast, so I was indulging in two of my very favourite things, which meant this project had double the mental health benefits!

Cost:

Pattern: available here for $9.50 (approx. £7.30)

Fabric: £0 (I didn't pay for either the outer or lining fabrics)

Elastic: approx. £1

Buttons: £0 (from the stash)

Total: £8.30 

It's a great pattern but I'm not in a rush to make it again so I don't think I'll be reducing that total but subsequent uses.