Thursday 12 January 2017

The Whites and The Blues


A belated post of some 2016 makes. I still have a few others that have been made but not photographed, or need just a little bit of fixing or finishing. With these two makes, one has already been in my wardrobe for 11 months, the other was made two weeks before the end of the year. So I guess that evens out to...still be a ridiculously long time between making and posting.


Both of these makes were quick pattern-free makes. Both pieces of fabric were remnants, so I only had what was there to work with. And with both fabrics I knew exactly what they'd be as soon as I bought them. Even so, both fabrics spent a while in my stash before I made them up into these garments.


The first make is a simple jersey top. The fabric was from Spotlight, bought in the second half of 2015. The print is white silhouettes of foxes, although they bear almost as much resemblance to cacti as they do to foxes. But I liked that the fabric is fun while still be quite simple in the navy and white colours. It was also a softer jersey than many of Spotlight's can be.


The top was a very simple make. It is raglan sleeved, and the front and back are identical, just rectangles with the top corners cut off on an angle. With the sleeves the neckline is not quite rectangular, angling out slightly towards the shoulders. It's sewn together with a three stitch zigzag about 6mm wide in white thread. The fit is close but not tight, so it's casual but still neat.


The skirt is a piece of wonderfully soft remnant rayon with navy palm leaves on a cream background was bought at My Hung fabrics. It was 1.5 metres wide and 1.1 metres long. This made it just the perfect size piece for  a maxi skirt. With skirts I tend not to bother with patterns, and for this one I didn't even bother with any measurement. I just pinned pleats every few centimetres to bring it down to my waist size, sewed my pleats about 8cm long, then stitched up the back seam, added a zipper, and folded over and stitched a waistband and hem. All done in not much more than an hour.


Both of these pieces also remind me of some of the things I really love about sewing. Designing my own ideas, or seeing a fabric and having an image in my head of what it should be and then creating that is such a great experience. Using fabrics in prints and colours I choose that are good quality and have a better feel than the cheap disposable things for sale in most shops means I enjoy wearing what I make. And my wardrobe has much more colour and variety when I make things myself.