named clothing – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

Saraste Frill Top

Daughter No 2 sent me a photo on Instagram late last year/early this year of a cute little top made in broiderie anglaise. One look at it told me I could use the Saraste Top from the Named Clothing book, Breaking the Pattern. Going from the measurements I chose to toile the size 2. Usually I make the first toile exactly as the pattern, but I aleady knew that she didn’t want the fullness and flare that the Top has. I used the pattern piece for the Shirt side front instead of the Top one, and removed flare from the side back to match the side front too.

collage saraste 2 — Saraste inspiration, a top from Sezane

The toile got the thumbs up, with a request to take in at the back waist a little more, it was too baggy, but not awful. So now I needed to make the pieces for the frills for the centre front and collar. I decided to make the pieces half as long again as the measurement of the original pieces. I could possibly have gone for a bit more, but not as much as three quarters, and definitely not double! The front frill is on the right front only, so only this piece needed the grown on facing to be removed and a seperate piece drawn up and cut.

collage saraste 1 — Frills for the Saraste, with overlocked rolled hem edge.

The frills are not double, The finished size is 2cm, with 1cm seam allowance. I added 5mm to the outer edge which I used to create the rolled hem on the overlocker. This worked out so well! I had yet to use the rolled hem on this overlocker, so was very glad it was so easy to do and worked perfectly on the first try!

The pattern was on the sheets in the book, each sheet has a block listing the name of the pattern and the pieces it has on it. I think it would be easier if each sheet was numbered, and the corresponding numers were in the book – but it wasn’t too hard to find the sheets I needed. The pieces were easier to trace than Burda patterns, it really helps when they’re not packed onto the sheets! Seam allowances are included, so nothing more to do.

The insides are just overlocked, broiderie anglaise doesn’t French seam well and I didn’t want to bind seams. This way they are neat and tidy and will do the job just fine. I chose buttons from the stash that had been rescued from one of hubby’s old office shirts, so all this has cost is the price of the fabric, which was £5 a metre end of roll from Rosenberg & Son.

The instructions are clear, with illustrations if you need them. Obviously I needed to deviate a little for the front edge and collar stand, but it really wasn’t tricky. I think I might try making the shirt for Daughter No1, it’s the right shape for her and I already have the majority of the pieces traced! I’m really happy with how this has turned out, and the toile was made as a wearable toile, so that means two projects in one!

I took it down to London and personally delivered it, as you can see, it’s great on! She loves it, it’s just cute and pretty enough!

Better Late Than Never

black pulmu 1 — Named Clothing Pulmu Pencil Skirt

Sometimes a project gets lost, forgotten about. This is one of those. It started out really well, it was last August (?) and the new Named Clothing collection was launched. I immediately bought the Pulmu and Talvikki patterns, seeing daughters 1 & 2 in them. Daughter no 1 bought black crepe for the skirt and we got cracking. Two toiles were made, fitting sorted, no problem. It all even went to Cornwall for a week of seaside fun in September. The plan was to finish it there because I was off to South Africa to look after my mum for 6 weeks and I knew the skirt would be needed while I was gone.

black pulmu 3

I did finish it, but the hem was wrong, something was causing it to hang and droop in the middle. But I was out of time to fix it so it languished until I returned. But no sewing was done again until late January of this year, and the skirt was forgotten. Daughter No 1 moved out in March, and still no skirt. Eventually in July I found a bag of “fabric” that turned out to be items to be fixed or tweaked -and in there was the skirt! As both daughters were visiting for a few days at the end of the month, it was a sign to get it sorted and given to her to finally be worn!

black pulmu 2

So what was the problem? Turns out that when I was cleverly shortening the pattern pieces I’d forgotten to remove an extra 1cm from the lining pieces, so they were longer than the shell. Hence the drooping hem. I unpicked the handstitched part of the hem and pulled the lining through the hole, marked a line perpendicular to the centre lines and folded up that rogue 1cm, stitching it down. Then it all got pushed back and the hem restitched. Volia! Took all of about 30 minutes to do. And almost a year to do it…

black pulmu 5

When I first made the skirt, I did the loops and belt, but she didn’t like either. The belt was dumped but I convinced her to keep the belt loops for now, she could use a thin silk scarf or a purchased belt instead. She’s still not convinced about the belt loops though.

black pulmu 4

But I love the skirt on her, it looks so totally different on her than on me!! Obviously. I love the pattern, it has fabulous shape and those side seams are great.

black pulmu 6

I’d love to make one with different colours to emphasise the panel shapes, or use a stripe cut in different directions. Now to make her a Talvikki to go with the Pulmu! Hope it doesn’t take another year…

black pulmu 7

Monochromatic

Pulmu Pencil Skirt, Saunio Cardigan and Birgitte Tee

We’re slowly winding down on summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, not something I’m relishing. I really miss those long southern summers and quick winters that were over just as soon as you were getting used to having to wear a jersey every day. Of course, the end of July appearing doesn’t mean I am ready to show you the last of what I made in the month, I’ve barely scratched the surface, and still not finished what I got up to in June!

But for today, I have an outfit I made for The Monthly Stitch, for Independent Pattern Month. It’s the last week of the fling and the challenge was to sew an outfit of at least two items. I’d already decided most definitely on one item, but it took a while to finalise the rest of the outfit.

I started with the Named Clothing Pulmu Pencil Skirt. In denim. I know, the pattern clearly states a lightweight fabric, but I rather fancied the idea of making it in something sturdy. I cut the 46 and after toiling it took in the side seams to remove the ease. I wanted to use a denim with 2% stretch and wanted a fit a little more like a pair of jeans. I also had to shorten it overall by 8cm. I took out 2 between the waistline and hip, 3 between the hip and the knee and another 3 between the knee and the hem.

IMG_20170717_180358_620 — Linen facings and zip guard on the Pulmu Skirt

In order to have a softer feel around the waist, the facings were cut from linen fabric from the scrap-box. A zip guard was cut from the same fabric and it looks good with the dark denim of the skirt. A decision was taken not to line the skirt. I used the overlocker to neaten all the raw edges and I toyed with the idea of binding the hem and the allowances of the vent edges. In the end I didn’t do it because it would mean using a third fabric and I didn’t like that idea. The hems are mitered with an uneven mitre to avoid any edges showing. They worked out really well. I like the skirt, it’s the first one to live in my wardrobe for about 10 years!

I decided against a woven for the top, going instead for a softer look with viscose jersey. I had some lovely soft grey viscose jersey left over from a project completed earlier in the year and decided to make the Birgitte Basic Tee from Maria Denmark. I can always do with more tee shirts! Going with the v-neck, short sleeve version, I thought I’d need to do something a little “more” with it. The morning I cut the tee out I’d needed to look out some sequin ribbons for a friend and I found a scrap of gold sequined fabric salvaged from a dress made ages ago. I thought “I wonder if this is useful, what would it look like on the grey?” and then, “ooo, I can put it on the shoulder!” I picked the left shoulder because if any bags are going to be carried, they go on the right.

IMG_20170720_134843_590 — Birgitte tee with sparkly shoulder

The Birgitte Tee is very quick and easy to make, so it was only a couple hours work. I slightly stretched the jersey when I laid the sequined fabric on top so that it wouldn’t be pulling against the sequins once made up and being worn. Then I pinned the scrap in place and tacked within the seam allowance. I removed the larger sequins from the seam allowance and got sewing. I quite like the finished result, understated and simple, but with a bit of bling/sparkle.

To round off the outfit I actually bought a piece of fabric! Clothspot have this gorgeous black and silver striped ponte for a pretty good price. I had the Saunio Cardigan from Named Clothing in mind. Originally I wanted to make it in a woven – I have a piece of black and cream silk that would look fabulous in the Saunio’s shape, but there wasn’t nearly enough of the fabric to make it work. The pattern is so quick to make! Even with making sure I had pins in every second stripe, it took a couple of hours in an afternoon to complete.

Love it when the stripes play nicely and line up on the side seam!

I widened the sleeve because I have “sturdy” arms(!) and knew, from the measurements, that this ponte would never have enough stretch to make the sleeves comfortable. I love the finished length of the sleeves, I usually push all my sleeves up, but these finish at the perfect spot! This is a great addition to my wardrobe, the colours go perfectly with everything else and I love the boxy shape and cropped length. I’m going to wear it loads with my Birkin jeans!

So there you have it, my outfit for the Indie Royalty category. I will try to catch up on the remains of June’s makes and the July stuff that didn’t fall into the Indie Month categories as soon as possible. I seem to really have got cracking with the sewing since getting my own sewing room, but the stash isn’t going down quite as quickly as I’d hoped. Best I get a move on then, Mr Not Compulsive has been dropping hints about never getting anything made for him and I have a good stash of Paul Smith shirtings!