Ralph, now with added cherries

Do you remember Ralph? Ralph is a skirt pattern that I drafted and shared the first version of here (wow, back in March of 2013, how time flies!). That first Ralph was a little big to start with, and then became unwearable when I lost some weight.

I examined that version and determined that the back (and placement of the side seams) was largely alright, it mostly needed width being removed from the front. So, after determining how much width to fold out of the front panels of the skirt I have remade Ralph, and this time the fit is perfect!

I want to say that the fabric for this version is a printed stretch denim (or something similar), but I don't know, as the fabric was a gift from the lovely Mindy when she was culling her fabric stash quite some time ago (Thanks Mindy!).

Now the fit is perfected, I'm looking forward to making another version of Ralph with some of the fabric I got in Vancouver last year.

Fruity Gored Skirt

First up, thanks so much to everyone that suggested jacket patterns to me; I have quite a few possibles now! I will recap those in another post. Today I want to talk about skirts...

I have discussed my gored skirts a couple of times before, here, and here. As in 2011 when I shared my first 5 variations, I am still very much in love with this pattern.

For this reason, I've made another two in the last year, both essentially straight up replications of the most recent version I made with the added pockets. This is the first of those...

The first was made nearer the beginning of the year out of some voile printed with blue and red fruit. As the fabric was quite see through, I tried out underlining the skirt (rather than lining it as I had done in some of my previous versions). I chose to underline so that I didn't need to worry about the print showing through at the pockets.

I also added some red ribbon to the top of the pockets.
One construction difference with this version which has made the fit change slightly was that rather than using a facing at the waistband I used some twill tape. This was a mistake, as there was no give in the twill tape as there would have been in a facing, and so the skirt is a tiny bit too small.

 

Not much else to say about this one, except that I'm still in love with the silhouette and how easy these skirts are to wear.

Wool Hollyburn Skirt

The hollyburn skirts that I made previously for pattern testing and the sew-along have proved to be very versatile work skirts, so it was bound to happen that I'd make more at some point. For this version I used the last of the wool suiting that I used for my Mad-Meh dress. I had pretty much exactly the right amount left over.

This time around I made myself the 'middle' option (in both length and flare). My previous versions were the short and most flared-option. I ended up having to hack off quite a few inches, as it was a little too long on me, settling with this knee length, as any longer was a bit overwhelming on me.

Similarly to the dress in this fabric, I'm not completely loving the finished make. I still love the fabric, but the skirt itself doesn't quite feel right when I'm wearing it. Having said that, it's gotten plenty of wear since I made it.

I lined this version, and inserted the zipper as per the sewalong, and also added the button tabs to the waistband (which I do really like).

The t-shirt in these pictures is also a me-made and unblogged. It's my standard t-shirt block, and the first thing I made on my new overlocker, what feels like yonks ago when I got it but realistically is a few months ago, early May maybe? I love the jersey but hadn't plucked up the courage to sew with it as it curled terribly. I even tried the cornstarch trick but that didn't even help enough.

However, with quick and minimal handling between cutting and overlocking, and a fair few pins and an equal amount of patience, the t-shirt came together really well and was well worth the effort.

The Laura Skirt

 

This skirt is the love child of some fabric pinched from Mindy's stash before she went overseas (miss you Mindy!!) and stealing the idea that Laura had beautifully implemented on a skirt she made a while ago (hence the name of the skirt).

I took my standard pencil skirt pattern, and converted the darts into princess seams on the front and back of the skirt. Then, rather than having a vent or slit at the back, added a lovely little flounce between the back princess seams.

In these photos the skirt is shown worn with my silk portrait blouse.

 

(I really should have ironed the skirt before taking these photos)

I deliberately left in the centre back seam above the flounce. I considered removing it and moving the zip to the side, but decided I would rather have a centre back zip.

This skirt is SO comfortable. I have no idea what the fabric is, but it's got a slight bit of stretch in it, and just enough body and weight that it doesn't get pulled around by my tights when I walk.



A fairly simple staple, with a little bit of interest, which has been a fantastic addition to my working wardrobe. I hope to make a few more of this skirt.

Aiken Jumper (plus bonus pencil skirt)

Today I want to share with you another successful knitting project from an Andi Satterlund pattern. This pattern is the Aiken and went completely smoothly and was a very quick knit. In all honesty, it took less time to knit the jumper than it did for me to get around to writing this post after taking photos *looks ashamed*

A testament to the speed of the knit, is that I knit my guage swatch and cast on on Christmas Day, and I'm not sure exactly when I finished the jumper, but it was sometime early February. So speedy!!

 

I didn't make any alterations except for adding some extra rows of ribbing around the waist. Ideally I would have made it a smidge longer still, but this was how much yarn I had and I was too lazy to go buy some more.

I find that the jumpers I have with a high neckline like this don't get worn much, but this jumper has proved to be an exception to that, especially since I adore the lace detail.

The yarn I've used is a merino yarn so is lovely to wear and snuggly warm.

 

Also, the skirt I'm wearing in these photos hasn't been blogged before. It's another Jenny Skirt, and the reason it hadn't been blogged is that when I originally made it (which was who knows how long ago) it was too small. I could get it on but couldn't really move, and certainly couldn't sit down; I'd forgotten to account for this fabric having no stretch.

Anyway, I've managed to lose a little weight this year and now the skirt fits through the hips! Hurrah! However, the waist was too big, so I unpicked the zip and took it in at the centre back to make the waist fit better.

The skirt fabric is a silk suiting that I got from the fabric store. It was interesting to work with. It's very soft and decadent, but fray terribly and holds creases like nobody's business. I wouldn't sew with it again!

Anyway, an incredibly successful jumper and a salvaged skirt. And hopefully my next post won't come at quite such a big delay after my last one.

Grey Beignet Skirt

You know when you make things and you can't wait to put them on and you wear them every day and you reluctantly stop wearing them so that you can wash them? Well this skirt was the exact opposite of that!

I made this skirt in January/February of last year (yes, 2012), almost a year and a half ago... The pattern is the Beignet from Colette Patterns, and I made the muslin in January and then made the skirt up in February, and then when I finished it off I just wasn't sold on the skirt. I didn't wear it. I had no great desire to wear it, and it just didn't get worn...

...until Me-Made-May of this year, when I was struggling to find casual me-made winter-suitable clothes and I pulled it out. I still wasn't completely sold on the skirt then, but then I pulled it out a couple of times during June and now it's starting to grow on me.

I made one alteration to the skirt which has improved it hugely, which was to stitch up the side-seam pockets. As soon as I moved at all the pockets would gape, and it was just annoying (see above). I was aware of the gaping the whole time I was wearing the skirt and I don't like to have to think about my clothes once I'm wearing them. A quick stitch up the seam-line later, and a snip-out of the pocket bags and I had nice sleek side-seams and a happier skirt.

Apologies for the skirt being massively creased in these pics, but these pics were quickly snapped by the lovely Sarah after a whole day of Social Sewing (which also explains the stray threads that I missed).

As I mentioned in the post about the muslin of this skirt, I traced a 12 for most of the skirt, tapering into a 10 at the waist, which gave a skirt that fits pretty well. The length is as it comes in the pattern.

I tried out a machine blind-stitched hem for the first time on this skirt (and only time actually). I liked how easy it was, but it didn't turn out all that invisible on this fabric, so I think I'll be careful about where I use it in the future.

The other key thing about this skirt is the sheer number of buttons. It took me a little while to find buttons, but I eventually got these matte dark-grey ones. I stitched the buttons on by machine as well (meaning that there wasn't a stitch of hand sewing in the entire skirt!)

So while it started as a bit of a dud, having worn it a few times now I think this skirt will grow to be part of my working wardrobe.

PS: Did you see my lovely new necklace in these pics? There's a better pic of it here. Isn't it awesome! I bought it from the fabulous and inspiring CurlyPops

Introducing... "What Was Your First?"

Today I am very excited to be announcing a new little series that I'm planning to start here on my blog, called "What was your first?". Have you seen the various interview type blog series around? Like "My Handmade Style" and "A day in the life". Well a little while back I had an idea for one myself so thought I'd give it a go.

In "what was your first?" I will invite other #sewcialists to tell us about the first 'real' item/garment that they made, how it turned out, and anything in particular they wish they could have told their 'past self' that would have made the item more of a success.

When I say "first 'real' item/garments", I'm going to leave that up to the interviewee to decide what I mean. For example, I did a bit of patchwork/quilting as a kid with my gran, and then during uni made a whole host of fancy dress costumes. But I would class my first 'real' garment as the first item of clothing that I made that was intended to wear normally, ie not fancy dress. (Although I do have some pretty awesome fancy dress costumes that I've made that I really should share with you one day)

To give you an idea of what I have planned, I thought I'd answer my 'interview questions' myself, about the first 'real' garment that I made...

First, introductions:
Well, hopefully you know who I am, but just incase you don't (I won't judge!); I'm Rachel, and I've been sewing seriously since about 2006. As I mentioned above, my gran taught me to sew; she does a lot of patchwork and quilting and was very happy to teach me how to as well when I expressed an interest as a child. I then 'nurtured' my basic sewing skills at university by making fancy dress costumes, but it was when I graduated from uni that I had a go at making 'real' clothes.

What was the first "real" garment you sewed?
The first item of 'regular' clothing that I made was a simple gored skirt. I decided to try making one because there were loads around in the shops at the time, and looking at it I couldn't get out of my head "They look like they wouldn't be too hard to make". So, after some examinations of the skirts in the shops, I went to the Bull Ring Rag Market in Birmingham and bought myself some fabric and had a go!

 

True to how I still tend to do things. I jumped in with both feet, and 'drafted' my own pattern and just had a go, making it up as I went along. I still have the skirt, and have worn it a fair few times. Less so recently, but that's more due to my being slightly too big for it than anything that is wrong with the skirt.


If you were making it now, What would you do differently?
Well, I like to think that this skirt was quite a success and I've actually made many more of essentially this skirt since I made it, I think I've made 5 of them in various iterations so far... and fully intend on making some more in the future, hopefully some more in wintery fabrics that can be worn with tights, as they're mostly summery skirts. But with regards to this particular one, I don't think I'd change anything major about it, I still really like the style and the fabric.


If you could go back in time and tell past-you one tip to improve your early garments, what would it be?
I'm going to cheat here and go with two things...

The first is finish your seam allowances!! It didn't even occur to me at the time that I should finish my seam allowances, so there they are, in all their unfinished glory! When I wear the skirt I have to check for any frayed threads and snip them off before I put it on!

 

The second thing is to think carefully about trims and their properties. In this case, the trim needed to be made into a curve, and the ribbon I chose wasn't having any of it! As the top of the skirt is not cylindrical but tapering out towards my hips, the ribbon that I added as trim was a bit of a problem, as it wanted to make a nice little tube. As you can see in the above photo, as I had stitched on the top of the ribbon first, I had to make some little tucks in the skirt below the ribbon to make it work. As well as looking a bit messy, this also made the skirt that bit smaller than it was intended to be.

I hope you're at least a little bit as excited as me about this upcoming series, I'm looking forward to hearing from my interviewees. Keep a look out for the first proper "what was your first?" post coming up soon!

Meet Ralph...

Today I have somebody very special to introduce you to; his name is Ralph.

Ralph was conceived in my pattern making classes, as an exercise in making patterns from the fitted skirt block that we made.

Ralph has a yoke/waistband, and is designed to sit below the waist. Instead of darts the front is split into three panels. In the back Ralph has two darts for optimal shaping over my bootylicious behind. And of course Ralph has pockets.

This particular version of Ralph is made from some wool left over from making my Thurlow Shorts, and is lined with some black lining fabric I had lying around. Ralph is fastened with a centre back zipper, which is lapped (because I wanted to try something new) and hand picked.

Ralph is a little bigger than he was intended to be (partly due to me not trying him on before putting in the zip) so sits slightly lower than originally planned. But since he really is quite short that's probably a good thing, as if he actually sat where he was designed to sit, things would be a bit indecent.



Thanks to the lovely Sarah for snapping these pictures for me. During the process Sarah commented that I looked a bit like a ballerina, which led to this...

 

Which of course led to this...

Anyway, that's Ralph, I hope you like him as much as I do.

PS: I took the plunge and purchased a domain name this weekend; if you visit www.mymessings.com you'll arrive right back here at my blog :)

Hollyburn Sew-Along - Finished Skirt No.1

As promised, to round off the Hollyburn Sew-Along I need to show you the two skirts that I made. Today I'll show you the pink linen version, which was actually a gift for my mum (hence the extra effort of making the insides look super lovely).

Above is the skirt laid out, which is a really good way to show how flared it is - just imagine it doubled and that's what portion of a circle it is. And below, you can see that it's lined (the fabric wasn't see through or anything so didn't need to be lined, but my mum requested lined, so thats what it has).

And here it is on my mum:

 

Doesn't it look fabulous! I love the print, and the drape of the linen is just beautiful!

Don't worry if you haven't finished, or even started, your skirts yet. The posts aren't going anywhere, and the list of links to them all will stay on the Sew-Along page, which is linked along the top of my blog below the banner.

But remember, you need to send me a link or picture of your skirt by the 11th of Feb if you want your skirt included in the round-up post for the Sew-Along participants! I'm looking forward to seeing all your skirts.