Blue leopard spotted fabric

I recently bought this lovely blue leopard spotted fabric from Ikea. The first lot I bought was £16 but then just before leaving the store I always check their Bargain Basement part and there was a similar piece of fabric for just £6. Originally I assumed it was ex-display but looking at it it has a printing error on the edge of the fabric. Still a serious bargain for just £6! I just need to place my pattern pieces to cut round that bit so I miss it out. In total I bought 6m of this stuff.

Anyway I was very happy with my purchases but then I went back to Ikea just a few days later and the last two pieces of this fabric ( it comes in 3m lengths) were reduced to £5.00 and with the Familly card discount that came to just £4.50. So I bought another piece so have 9m in total to play with.

So I have absolutely LOADS of this lovely fabric. I have lots of ideas as to what I am going to do with it. I cannot blog here yet though because I want to finally achieve a Monthly Stitch Post. I am pretty sure you have to put the things you make on there first. Gotta check their rules in fact. Every month I consider taking part and every month for one reason or another I do not get round to it. My last serious attempt back in April I never finished the coat I was making

30: Summer coat

which has become a UFO. I will get round to finishing this at some point because it will be a useful item for autumn. Right now I would not wear it anyway since its just too hot. Wonderful weather right now in the UK though!

I have also invested in 9 vintage Burda magazines. Some from 2012 and 2011 which I love the patterns for and since I bought them for just £2.99 + postage each off ebay they are a bargain. And some from 2008 and 2009 costing 99p + postage and one form 1983 costing £2.00. Great patterns in them all. Except for the 1983 one which turned out quite tatty depsite the description and the pictures - although all patterns are there and in good nick, the others are just fantastic condition. Better than some new ones I have received through the post. AND they came wrapped in a box and in wrapped tissue paper. I think the person I bought them off was probably having a clearout having already traced any wanted patterns but she obviously cared greatly for them so I am very privileged I think to have won these at such low prices. Possibly in fact they are better than any of the magazines I have recently bought new! But I have saved lots of money buying these and have got just about all the older patterns that got me interested in Burda in the first place.  Then though I did not have the money to invest in sewing patterns so I was just dreaming.

Though it will now mean I have to trace rather than simply print out of course which is what I would have done if buying individual patterns from the website.  My partner has also been wonderful in lending me his debit card to buy these since my payday is not till the end of the month and as usual I have not much spare cash for such items.  I am actually not sure which I prefer - taping together A4 sheets which often do not quite fit right ( for me anyway!) or tracing and trying to see which line I am actually meant to be following! I am currently enjoying my evenings reading each one from cover to cover and dreaming about what I can make each item I want out of. Anyway as soon as I decide what I am making I will let you know. I think its going to a be a very exciting few months after buying all these.

Thanks for reading

Bracken

57:Upcycled vest dress

I bought a strapless maxi dress from a thrift shop for £1.00. It was the type with a bandeau front and shirring elastic at the back. It was OK but the top just did not feel safe for me to wear anywhere. I am not really into boob tube type tops but prefer to have the security of a strap or boning at the very least. I think most people wear with a bikini by the pool on holiday. I should have taken a photo but forgot. Anyway it started off something like this:

So having decided I like the fabric which was a bargain at just £1.00 I needed to make something I can actually wear. The front has what is a princess type construction with three panels. The back is just one panel but has shirring elastic at the top. I chopped off the top completly then used this pattern to cut out a vest type of dress using view C but without the sleeves.

I wanted to achieve a vest dress which was fitted like the pattern but with a slightly more A-line skirt.



To do this I first cut the front and back of the original dress appart at the side seams but left the princess seams of the front intact. I folded each piece in half at the centre. Since the dress was second hand and had been worn and has no elastane I now found that in order to keep the grainline straight the side seams were a little squewed. This did not matter since my pattern pieces were quite a lot smaller than my fabric pieces. If you do this you just need to make sure your new centre front is flat and has no folds and that it follows the grain of the fabric. Also that the princess front seams line up as well as the grainline being correct.

The I positioned the front pattern piece on the folded front panel and the back piece on the folded back panel. At each centre fold at the bottom edge I added 1cm extra however I kept the pattern right on the fold at the top and down to the waist to make a slightly A-line skirt but not to add any extra ease through the top part. I cut it out and simply overlocked all seams. Then because I did not know if it was going to work out to be wearable at all I overlocked all the edges too.

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog will know I am quite into the punk look so for me overlocked hems is just fine and I like that. I decided it is wearable just as it is but if I decide to I can still go back and twin needle stitch a hem at arm holes, neckline and hem later.

So here is the final dress again. I am quite pleased with the end result and wore to work already.

Thanks for reading my blog

Bracken

Finding ways to wear me-made clothing

 Finally I found a way to wear this top. I really like this top but its so difficult to find anything I can wear with it for "normal life". I made it here: 35: Bardot style top pattern and playing with my serger but its really something I cannot seem to get to go with anything. I mean it will be great at Christmas but what about the rest of the year? I do not really go in for Christmas clothing and like to have stuff I can wear all the time.

Well I never have, all my life, worn ripped jeans despite them coming in and out of fashion every few years. Bearing in mind I grew in the days of Punk rock I still refused to wear ripped jeans with the exception to wearing them when they really rip naturally rather than me ripping a  hole in the knee to look cool. I kind of always thought it a bit sad to destroy a good pair of jeans. But then by the time jeans rip naturally they tend to simply fall to bits so you never do have the "real ripped jeans" look it seems.

Well stupid me. I had these jeans for ages., they started off pale bleached blue and I dyed them black but I just could not get into them. So at the ripe old age of 52 ( it was my birthday a few days ago) I finally decide I had better get round to this fashion because soon I am going to be far to old to carry it off. Its already debateable if I should wear something like this. But then a rock star would so why not a normal mortal like me? So I got out the scissors, put on my jeans and decided where to strategically rip my jeans. I did three holes in one leg and four in the other but let them just rip a bit more by kneeling down in them. Then I got out the sand paper and sanded them down along the rips ( I took them off for this bit since did not want to sand my knees!).

And low and behold my difficult to wear top is really very good with these. Who would have thought it?

Thanks for visiting my blog

Bracken

56: two mesh dresses

I decided to make these dresses for summer. I have seen lots of RTW mesh dresses though really none quite like these. They have an almost 1990's feel to them. Vintage maybe?

The first is a paisley floral mesh and the second is a plain cornflower blue one. Both are power mesh type of fabric so should hold their shape well.

What can I say? cool on a summers day. I am wearing a satin thrifted dress underneath.

Both dresses are simply overlocked and have rolled edges

Thanks for visiting my blog

Bracken

55: red Burda style top

This needs ironing!
I made this top from the June 2016 Burda style magazine
http://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/cropped-blouse-062016.


I really like the jumpsuit type of look but could never get on with them so this for me is a similar look but without the annoyance of being all in one.

Its the same fabric as the trousers I made here: 50: 05/2015 Burdastyle trousers 114/115
Construction was a bit weird and ended up quite messy on the reverse with some unfinished seams so when I make again I will change things a bit. I have never made a loop with a button closure before so that was new and the top is designed with really strange shaped panels so does not go together at all like you expect. I thought it would be a really simple design and it is not difficult. I just had to concentrate to work out what went where and how.The way Burda say to attach the straps could be much simpler. Anyway I am a bit rushed today so more on this when I make the next one. I will do step-by-step photos.

The main problem with this top, which by the way I love, is the centre front panel which I somehow managed to get the print upside down. So it kind of works but could be better.
I shall make a second one that I get the print right way up now though. Its a nice enough top pattern and I can happily have two in the same fabric made from it. Its definitely a cute top and nice and comfortable to wear. I think it goes well with the trousers I made from the May 2015 magazine.

I am off to make another top now in the same fabric!

Thanks for reading

Bracken

54: Self -drafted floral yellow top

I made this top about two years ago from the same fabric as the Bowie pants/MC Hammer trousers 51: pattern hacked yellow african block printed baggy Bowie trousers and the circular cullottes http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/circular-shorts-or-cullottes.

It was raining lots today so I took the photos inside hence they are a bit dull. The top is made from the left over bit of fabric from the other projects. Because of the shape of fabric I had left I made grown-on sleeves which are a bit bat wingish.

 Also the neckline is on the fabric fold so there are no shoulder seams just two side seams and a hem. The neck-hole is simply cut out of the top and has a facing. 

I curved the hemline similar to a shirt hem.

This has turned out to be a surprisingly wearable top so I really should make more in this style. It was also one of the easier and simplest designs I have even sewn.

Thanks for visiting my blog

Bracken

53: wide neck off the shoulder over top

This is another version of Bursdatyle 01/2016I  which I made twice before here 24: Red lace hoody - Burdastyle 01/2016 and black faux leather leggings and here 15: Burda style 01/2016 hoody
I started making this just after Christmas. Originally I cut a lining since the fabric is very loosely woven and tends to stretch so I thought it would wear better and last longer if lined it. I did not want to lose the loose weave feel by using interfacing all over the pieces which I think was my only other option. I have actually seen blogs where people use starch to stabilise delicate fabrics. I have never done that but with hind-sight maybe it is what I should have done with this fabric. Anyway, I actually cut this top out with the hood which ended up being attached to the pixie dress here:

52: Pixie festival dress from fabric scraps

When I started to construct this the neck edge stretched so much the hood would not line up where it was meant to. This was despite my following the pattern and gathering the neck. The lining of course did not stretch and the outer did so everything just went wrong. In the end I took the hood off, removed all lining and undid the front and back top neck gathers. Then I simply added a ribbed crew neck and serged everything. The cuffs are also ribbed. I was not sure if this would work to save this top or if I would have to cut the pieces again into some other kind of top but in the end I have ended up with a very wide neck on/off the shoulder top which is ideal at this time of year to wear over other clothing like a light weight cardigan or jacket.

I did not hem as such but just serged the edges.  I really like the fabric since it has a lovely drape but possibly would have worked best as "arab" style square scarves though how many of them I would want I do not know. A wrap could also have been a good option. I suspect these garments will not last that long due to the dropped stitch frayed effect which runs right through the fabric in the stripes. In the meantime I shall just enjoy wearing them as much as I can knowing at the least I managed to salvedge my disasters into two reasonably wearable garments. I still have enough of this fabric left for something else too but I have yet to decide what to do with the rest of it.

Thanks for reading

Bracken

52: Pixie festival dress from fabric scraps

This was made from fabric scraps left over from a  couple of other things I have made but have yet to blog about. The fabric is very difficult to use. It stretches despite being just a woven. Its a very loose woven which I like very much but does not work for quite a few designs I tried hence I ended up with a dress that never worked and lots of left over bits. I originally had the idea this fabric would work best with a lining but the outer stretched and the lining didn't and it all looked terrible so I took it appart and started again with no lining and just added bits to the hem to make it pixie-ish. All the seams and edges are overlocked.

 

The hood was taken from the pattern for the

24: Red lace hoody - Burdastyle 01/2016 and black faux leather leggings

I actually attempted to make the hoody from this fabric but it did not quite work out. More about this in my next blog post!

Anyway for a disaster this turned out surprisingly wearable and realy did feel like a good festival dress.

Thanks for reading
Bracken

51: pattern hacked yellow african block printed baggy Bowie trousers

I made these trousers while ago now from a slim leg trousers pattern. Probably I should have worn them for #MMMay16 but I never got round to it. The fabric is African wax block printed batiqued cotton fabric which is I think just lovely. If I could have found more of this fabric I would have bought it. I have seen similar on Ebay but usually it is quite expensive. I bought this from a hairdressers in Coventry, UK. Sadly the hair dresser closed down shortly after when I went back to buy more.

Its the same fabric I used for my cullottes here: http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/circular-shorts-or-cullottes

I was actually inspired to make these by David Bowie pants from the 1970's. I owned a pair as a teenager similar to these though these probably are more MC Hammer than how I actually intended. I cannot right now find a photo of what I was trying to achieve.

To make them I used a Burdastyle pattern for narrow leg trousers. I cannot remember which one since I actually made these in 2013 according to my camera photo dates. My hacks are certainly far from professional but this did work.

Here is how I hacked the original pattern ( pretty inaccurately!):

 Then I drew round the bits:

 

I then did the same for the front but kept the front pocket identical to the original pattern. Unfortunately, I never took a photo of the front of the pattern when I hacked it but its pretty similar to the back but with the pocket bits cut out. This is the one thing that doesn't quite work because the pockets kind of stick out at the side. Also, if I repeated this I would make the ankles wider since Bowie trousers were more of a gradual taper but its not a bad job really and they are nice colourful unusual summer trousers to say the least.

I pleated round the front waist and added a flat waistband, but elasticated the back waist and I added two ties as a belt ( this bit is not usual for Bowie trousers but just seemed a good idea). The two ties are thin strips which I tie round the front. They are attached at centre back. They were made from scraps and are a bit bodged so have a raw edge which is starting to fray. I am better at making this kind of thing these days! Possibly I should also have added some belt loops to hold the ties in position but they do work reasonably well without and I have no more scraps of this fabric left.

This is the front of the trousers with pleats at the waist and a flat waistband. If you click on the picture you can see where I had to unpick and re-stitch but have yet to pull all the loose threads out!

This is the back with three rows of thin elastic in three seperate casings and the ties sewn on centre back:

This is how the trousers look with the ties done up:

 

I am not too sure how well you can see in the photo above so here is another showing how the ties go:

 
 The elasticated back:

Close-up of the side pocket:

 Anyway here are the photos:

My MC Hammer pose!

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Bracken