After a loooong time away from the sewing machine I've finally sewn something! Well, three things to be precise - three Sew Over It Molly tops. Nothing complicated, nothing fancy, just simple everyday tops that will be worn a lot (I'm wearing the pink one as I type this...)
There are several reasons why I haven't been feeling it on the sewing front recently, but the main one is that I'd more or less reached saturation point with my handmade wardrobe. To put it simply, I had more than enough clothes and didn't need to sew more. Unworn garments were piling up and it felt wasteful and wrong. So I stopped sewing. And if I'm perfectly honest, I've enjoyed the break and the lack of pressure to sew things.
When spring finally arrived in the UK I had a long, hard look at my wardrobe and was pretty ruthless with the clothes that no longer fit me, both in terms of style and size. A combination of middle age, menopause and eating too many pies (and what a lovely combination that is!) meant that quite a lot of the super fitted styles I used to love so much had to be slung out. That's when I noticed a gap for a few stylish T shirts and tops, preferably made from knit fabrics for the comfort factor.
The light blue Molly top was actually sewn a few weeks before the other two, using Girl Charlee denim coloured cotton spandex from my stash. I made a straight size 10 as per my previous version.
Molly is a really simple but stylish pattern and in a few short weeks this top has been worn a LOT. The fabric was lovely to sew with too, so I decided to sew a couple more. I bought a darker denim version of the same fabric and, very unusually for me, a dark rose pink, both from Girl Charlee.
It took just a morning to make the two tops on my overlocker (hems and neckbands were top stitched with a double needle) and they turned out exactly as I'd hoped. The dark denim one is basically a carbon copy of the light denim one and will be worn until it falls apart. The fabric is light enough to wear on spring days or can be layered up when it's really cold.
I think this one is my favourite. |
I left off the sleeve cuffs for the pink version as I thought the colour was more suited to summer. I also levelled off the hem to give it a neater shape.
I must admit it was good to get back behind the sewing machine again. If you've had a bit of a break from sewing, here are my top tips for getting back into it:
1. Choose a pattern you've used before and you know fits well. You can then just cut out and sew, knowing that the finished garment will fit.
2. Don't over complicate things with a difficult design. The Molly top has just three pattern pieces (four if you add the sleeve cuffs) and is ridiculously quick to sew.
3. Avoid patterned fabric for the same reason. Who can be arsed to pattern match when you're after a quick fix?!
4. Knit fabrics are your friend, they're quick to sew up and easy to fit.
5. Cut out more than one garment at the cutting stage. If you only have a few seams to sew, an extra garment doesn't takes much longer to sew up, especially if you use my canny overlocker thread tip.
The new additions to my wardrobe are already on frequent rotation, which I'm delighted about. Rumour has it there's a Tilly and the Buttons Bibi skirt in the pipeline too, so I'm clearly on a sewing roll! Small steps... x