Another black and blue hoody

This top is really made from oddments of fabric. I ended up with bits all over the room to find fabrics of similar weight and stretch for this one. But I am happy with the results. Or relatively so anyway. This worked better than the other multi media top I made for Mick. I actually made this one first which is probably why because I had bigger bits of fabric to play with for this one. This is yet anther of McCalls 6614. This time I used the front panels but joined the back ones together to make a flat solid back.

Front and sleeve panels

Front panel is the blue waffle football shirt fabric, front sides and sleeves are ribben stretch lycra fabric. This works well for the front side panels but less so for the sleeves because I have ended up with a slightly wavy edge where the sleeves are hemmed. Hopefully this may wear in. I considered pressing but have previously managed to melt the white version of this fabric so decided not to risk that.

Back panel is the stretch performance fabric left over from the red top.

Thats all for now for hoodies I think. I am now making non-hoody tops. I will show you those later

Take care

Bracken

Micks blue hoody version 2

I already made one of these but it was really a disaster and a waste of fabric. I do not think I ever blogged about it but I did an identical red version which I did blog about.

Here are the previous versions:
Navy crew neck and paisley and Red and navy mesh



Mick was very nice about these tops and has never dissed them. He always encourages me. He actually wears the navy mesh under a Tshirt when its cold and he does wear the paisley version despite it being very short. Not a complete disaster then. But not really good enough.

In fact I have previously made at least 4 tops using this pattern if I include the blue version which is the same as this top.

I tried different sizes and came to the conclusion it was not the width that is wrong, but the length. For the red one I finally sussed the problem out for certain, by adding a band on the bottom. It still did not work though due to the curved hem. So in order to sort this out permanently, I have now added about 4cm into the middle of the pattern, at the marks to lengthen it. It did give me an idea of how much longer it needed to be. Needless to say this red and navy version went into Mick's wardrobe and has never been worn. I have now retrieved and added to my stash because I can cut it down and make a Tshirt for me sometime when I have the inclination.

The fabric is the same navy mesh type of fabric used in the navy crew neck and the sides of the red and navy tops. I also made a dress from this fabric and a top for me so its versatile and very sportwear-ish. The lighter sky blue fabric was sold to me as "football shirt fabric". Its got a kind of texture on one side. I actually also popped into the local football team shop for research for this top because although I do not want it to look anything like a team shirt, it does help to have an idea how a team shirt is constructed so I get an authentic sportswear look.

 

This time I finally got it right because it fits Mick well in length and width. I am happy with it and I felt when he wore it to go shopping he wore it because it was a nice top and not just because I made it. It was worth the risk of cutting the pattern pieces and lengthening. I was worried to be cutting my original pattern up. Probably I should have traced it really but I didn't. I changed the actual original pattern. Its McCalls M6614.

 Heres the rest of the photos:

Now though I have the right size I can get to making Mick a few more tops because he really needs some new T shirts right now.

More about this when I get them done but its my current main aim sewing-wise to get a better wardrobe for my other half, because we have little spare cash, I have all this stashed fabric and thats what he needs.

Just hope I can come up with some versions he will actually wear. Though he said he really likes this top so at least the first one is a success.

See you next week - hopefully with some more tops for Mick.

have a lovely weekend

Bracken

Red and navy hoody = a slight disaster!

 Just a quick make uisng McCalls M6614 because I am busy playing with pattern making for my The Vampires Wife DIY dress

I have to make this pattern longer next time though because I ended up putting an extra band on the bottom to make this long enough so its not really a very good make. Mick seems to like it and wore it as a top layer over the last few days when it has been warm so he has not needed a jacket. Its made from football shirt type fabric witth a solid red that is very stable and the sides are navy mesh. 

I made this dress from the same navy fabric and the tulip skirt from the red. 

This pattern has a curved hem so having to add the extra strip is not the best thing to have to do. 

I need to add an extra bit into the next version of this though and make the pattern longer.

One of the good things about my current pattern making endeavours is I am starting to feel confident about actually altering my commercial patterns to fit us. 

This needs it since it was clearly far too short without the bottom band which is a shame because the fabric is good quality so realy I have messed this one up. 

Still it will be ok next time - I hope. And as they say you can't win em all!

I still have some light blue in the football shirt fabric so will lengthen the pattern and then make a second one of these and with a bit of luck it will turn out better

Thanks for visiting 

Bracken

Two T shirts for summer - McCalls M6614 and self drafted

I decided my other half needs some new Tshirts. This is not the best top I have made for him. Its the same pattern as this T shirt I made here, McCalls M6614.



This time I made a smaller size for Mick but its still a bit too big so next time I will go down a size again. Eventually I will make the right size for him.

I have real problems it seems with pattern sizes both for me and for him. Its not so difficult when you try on RTW cos you just buy a diffferent size and you can guestimate when you see the garment on the hager but when its a pattern that you have to sew up it well nigh impossible to guess correctly and the pattern details are so often wrong it seems. I find most patterns come out bigger than the pattern sizing says it will.


I decided the fabric lent itself more to a normal T than to a hoody hence making a different version of the pattern.


It seemed even bigger before I added the neckband.  Incidentally I am quite pleased with that. After the last few weeks where I have been having quite a few disasters this top has actually come out reasonably Ok despite the sizing. I top stitched not quite in the ditch for this but next to it using a twin needle. Well the twin needle is why its not quite "in the ditch" but it works. If I had not run out of thread half way round it would be even better but there, it seems I am incapable of making anything that is "perfect". Maybe one day.





So this fabric was an ebay bargain. I do like ebay although its always a bit of a risk when buying fabric etc. This was sold as mesh but its actually quite a good quality sports fabric. Polyester but possibly with some lycra. I am unsure, but it has a good return to it. Wear will show I suppose. 5.5m for 99p tho' you cannot really go wrong.

I had some problems with the tension tho' as you can see on the back seems. The tension gets a bit better as I carried on sewing. Still I expected this to be a unwearable muslin because I never actually intended for this to be seen. It was  atrial with both fabric and to try to make the right size and the fabric was so cheap I thought it would be worth making several tops until I get the correct sizing for him but as it happens he ended up keeping this top on all day so obviously not a complete waste of time. The tension problem is probably down to me breaking my machine. I broke a needle a few weeks ago and at the same time bent the upper looper.

When I investigated about getting it fized it was only £20 extra for a completely new overlocker so I cannot afford to fix the thing. My clever partner bent it back and it worked but the tension seems impossible to completely sort out now. I managed to improve as I sewed with this item but its a bit hit and miss because the instructions in the manual no longer count really. Right now I cannot afford £170 - £200 to buy a new one or repair this one so I have to make do. Its still sews but its less perfect than it was. Something to do with the distance between needles and looper I think but without a second machine of the same type to copy its just guesswork to know what to do to correct this. It is only £20 for a new looper but I would still need a tool to work out the distance and this seems unavailable at least in my initial googling attempts to find out. I did find out the looper undoes with an allen key in the top which is not immediately obvious from looking at the machine but thats as far as I have got with me fixing this so rather than pay for someone to fix this machine I will buy a second machine at some point but this is not possible right now. So for now I just have to either give up sewing or make do best I can. I should make the final version of this top with better tension since I managed to fiddle with it and make it much better on the front seams as you can see. So for a muslin this is not so bad and is wearable anyway which is encouraging after the last few weeks of disasters.

 Maybe I should just stick to making easy things and give up on any challengng stuff. Or perhaps my standards have gone up and I am aiming higher which really can only be a good thing but does mean for more disasters or at least potentially imperfect makes.


 

The second top is self-drafted - by cutting round an old T shirt which I love.  I had a few scraps left over from the godet dress I made last week so I made this. Its slightly longer than the original top but is so basic its silly. Its based on my Missimo Batman top which is from the early 2000s. I have loved this top so much.

To be honest I reckon if I make another of these I will make it the original length since the new one hangs slighty weird. It was from the "show your belly button" era but making it longer probably needs a slight change in shape since the new top slighlty rucks up on my belly. Must be the shaping is meant for the short look. I hope it will hang better once worn a few times. Despite that I can see me wearing it loads this summer. 

Its a raglan but does not even have proper neck band and all the hems are just twin needled but with no actual hems. All edges are just raw. I really must investigate cutting with a rotary blade because this would be neater then but this was cut with my ancient and rubbish blunt scissors. I have needed to replace these for months. Its now getting to the point where its replace or stop bothering trying to sew.

I was quite pleased with how this edge stitching turned out tho' the armholes are not as good at the neck and hem. I got a bit close to the edge of the fabric and they tend to curl under a bit

 I think this little top will be good addition to my summer wardrobe.

Thanks for visiting

Bracken