Sewing for my capsule project 333 wardrobe- top 1

Sewing for my capsule project 333 wardrobe- top 1

Haveing identified various gaps in my Summer project 333 capsule wardrobe I’ve been sewing items to fill the gaps! I started of with a new pair of shorts. Today I wanted to show you my first make using the Sew Serendipity: Fresh and Pretty Designs to Make and Wear book.

I started with one of the tunic designs. The book gives you a basic design and then various options based on the design. I loved the way these designs allow you to mix and match fabrics in various ways. I used two makower quilting cottons and this means the top matches my new shorts and will fit in perfectly with my capsule.

As someone fairly new to sewing I loved the detailed instructions and the resultant finishes. Mant of the seams are top and/or edgestitched and I though this really took my garments to the next level- I feel they look a lot more professional with these types of finishes.
This is the band at the bottom of the tunic and the sleeves.

 

I bought a Snap-on 1/4-inch Seam Footfor my Elna. At only a fiver it has been so useful for producing neater topstitching and I used it on the bottom band of the tunic to get nice spacing!You butt the black guide up against the seam or hem and the sewing is then 1/4 inch from the guide.


A view at an angle shows it is quite fitted and hopefully you agree it looks good with the shorts!!

I haven’t done the best job of getting it on the dress form as my wrists were hurting at the time- it sits a little smoother on me.

Other posts in my sewing for summer project 333 series
Shorts 1
Skirt 1 
Top 2 

Skirt 4 

Sewing a capsule wardrobe for project 333- shorts 1

Sewing a capsule wardrobe for project 333- shorts 1

Project 333 uses the idea of having a 33 item capsule wardrobe which you swap out every 3 month. I’ve found this a great challenge to do. I like the fact that every 3 months I get to shop my wardrobe to put together a new 33 capsule wardrobe for the next season. Then I find it very freeing only having 33 items in the bedroom closet to choose from. It makes life so much easier. I don’t tend to include accessories, underwear and shoes- I don’t often wear accessories or loads of different shoes anyway.

Over the last couple of years I have been teaching myself to sew with books and You Tube videos. I’ve finally got to the stage where I can sew clothes I’ll be happy to go out in! This means I can now start to sew my capsule wardrobe. Since starting the project 333 experiment I decided to only buy clothes and fabrics in specific colours which coordinate well together and I like. I decided to start sewing my summer wardrobe using quilting cottons- nice and cool for summer and the fabrics are designed to coordinate.

They contain several of the colours I had decided to focus on in my wardrobe- I like brights! Aqua, teal, pink, purple and berry are all colours I like to wear and you can see from these facrics that they feature in this range.

I wanted to start by concentrating on the pinks and purples with a few neutrals. I already have some pieces in my wardrobe which will fit into this scheme. The idea is that I’m sewing items I need to fill in the gaps. I’ll be trying to tweak my patterns so I get a good fit and can remake in different fabrics for autumn/winter.

Since this is a summer wardrobe I wanted to start with some shorts. I wanted to have an elasticated waist so they will last should I gain or lose any weight! I decided to adapt the trousers from Butterick B4238.

I traced the trouser pattern onto brown paper- shortening to the length I wanted for shorts. I used pink medallion material.

At the moment they can be worn with a pink t-shirt I already have.

 Tomorrow I will hopefully be posting another top to wear with the shorts.

Other posts in my sewing for my summer project 333

Top 1
Skirt 1
Top 2

Skirt 4

Stand up to cancer

Stand up to cancer

Hi everyone. Something a bit different today and a new technique for me mixing sewing and digital crafting. In the UK there was a stand up to cancer fundraiser on tv last night so I decided to make a top with a Think Pink theme to wear yesterday and try and get as many people to watch as I could!

Since I’m a self- taught fairly new sewer it was slightly nerve wracking making something to wear to work! I made up the pattern for the top using tutorials on circle tops see my pinterest if you’re interested).

I used my serger for the edges. I used my Krista Smith digi together with Craft artist for the design and then printed it out onto transfer paper and ironed it on.

I used various techniques to colour my digi using Craft Artist and a couple of finishing toushes with Promarkers! It took ages but I enjoyed it and I’m happy with the result.

Hopefully I’ve encouraged some more people to donate to Cancer Research.
I would like to enter the following challenges


Jellypark Challenges – Pink and anything but a Card
Craft My Life– anything but card/layouts  and always “Show what can you create”

Lawnscaping – Try a New Technique

First attempts at sewing!

First attempts at sewing!

Hi everyone!
I thought it was probably time to start blogging my sewing makes! I only started about a year ago having done an adult education sewing course about 10 years ago! I’m teaching myself using books and You Tube videos and as ever am being inspired by the sewers over on MSE forum.
I don’t have much time for sewing- it is much easier to quickly put together cards when I have some time but I really need a good chunk of time free to have a go at sewing something.
My first make was this tunic

I then made this skirt

Followed by a dress

As you can see I’m a fan of stretch fabrics because
1. I haven’t had to learn how to sew a zip yet!!
2. If my weight fluctuates slightly I can still wear things!

However, it has meant teaching myself stretch stitches and using a double needle!
I’m very lucky and have got an overlocker now as a present. I’m only just getting started with it and am doing some refashioning so that if I make mistakes it is not too costly (I make plenty of mistakes!!).

Thanks for reading!