MMJ: Days 23, 24, 25 and 26

So, what's been happening for the past few days?....

Day 23

MMJ: Day 23

Top: Pendrell blouse

Trousers: Banana Republic

Sandals: Camper

Me-Made Category: A

This is a pretty easy combination and was exactly what I wore on Day 12 too.

Day 24

MMJ: Day 24

Top: 1950's wrap top

Skirt: Japanese one pleat skirt

Shoes: Kew

Me-Made Category: Both verging on A

After languishing in my wardrobe unworn since its birth, this top has received the most compliments of all my me-made clothes this month.  Very strange.

Day 25

MMJ: Day 25

Cardigan: John Smedley

Dress: Crepe dress

Shoes: Marks and Spencer

Me-Made category: B

I wore this for my son's school fair and it was a big hit.  Lots of people asked me where I bought it from!!! I think it was the fabric which got them all so excited.  It's still a pain to get it to sit right, especially the wrap bit at the back, but I can live with it because it's such a lovely dress for summer.  In fact, I was tempted to skip off and pick flowers in the adjoining meadow as I was wearing just the right get-up.  You'll be relieved to know I didn't...

Day 26

MMJ: Day 26

Top: Sorbetto

Skirt: Beignet

Shoes: Clarks

Me-Made Category: Top, C as it's fresh off the machine, Skirt, A

Today was hot, hot, hot so I decided to give my new Sorbetto a spin.  I made this top with the intention of taking it on holiday so today's hot weather was a good practice run. Verdict?  Perfect, really cool in hot weather.  

I can't believe a whole month has almost gone by, every day of which I've been clad in my hand stitched clothes!  Happy Monday. x

Japanese Single Pleat Skirt

Ta-da, here she is, my first skirt from a Japanese pattern book. An hour or two after cutting out my fabric, I had a lovely, elegant, single pleat skirt. I simply followed the instructions for the pleating as planned (well looked at the diagram, it was that clear) then put in the zip and waistband by using the same method plus a bit of common sense. 

Front pleat in more detail

I didn’t line the skirt in the end, as the fabric is a thick linen blend, so from a transparency point of view it should be OK. I was also worried I wouldn’t be able to co-ordinate the lining pleat with the main fabric pleat. 

A bit wonky, but a big improvement on the zigzag

I used my overlocking foot with an overlocking stitch (crucial point here) to create this effect on the seams.  Thank you very much Gertie for shining a light on that one. 

I’m so pleased I went for what was probably one of the simplest makes in the book (and you can’t get much more straight forward than an A-line skirt).  

Here's the back pleat

It came together so easily and has definitely given me the confidence to try another pattern. I suspect a large part of the success of the skirt was the simplicity and elegance of the cut. It looks pretty unprepossessing when you see the pattern pieces laid out, but when sewn together the garments miraculously become very flattering.  Simple Chic is a very accurate title for the book. 

There were a few comments on my last post asking about the patterns and pattern pieces.  Just to clarify, Simple Chic contains 21 patterns, comprising one pair of trousers, three blouses, 12 dresses, three skirts, one coat and one suit.  There are two giant pattern sheets with all the pieces for each pattern printed on.  Japanese pattern books cost between £16 and £20 if bought in the UK (Simple Chic is £18), so that’s 21 patterns for £18.  When you think a Collette Pattern is around £12 in the UK (and don’t get me wrong, in my opinion well worth every penny), these pattern books are amazing value for money. 

Pondering the tricky decision

Now, the tricky decision is, which pattern to sew next?...

Dipping my toes into Japanese pattern books...

I’ve had this beautiful Japanese pattern book for a while, but have been scared witless at the thought of making anything from it. 

 

I spent hours swooning over the classic, elegant clothes and stroking the lovely, thick creamy paper before deciding a skirt would be the easiest thing to make for a first attempt.

Before I started I read up on the subject.  There's an excellent article in issue 25 of Sew Hip magazine by Florence of Flossie Teacakes.  It's really well written and a pleasure to read.  If you're thinking of sewing from Japanese pattern books I'd highly recommend trying to get your hands on a copy as it's a great introduction.  After reading it I was filled with confidence about approaching my pattern.  Also, by happy coincidence, Kate from M is for Make is running a Japanese Pattern Book sewalong at the moment.   Although I’m not officially sewing along (I think I’ve had my fill of sewalongs for a while) I am scouring each post for tips and advice, of which there are many. Here's a big, giant, enormous tip - if you’re thinking of buying a Japanese pattern book, get it from M is for Make.  No, I’m not on commission, but as well as having a fantastic selection, each book comes with translation sheets of sewing terms which Kate herself has put together.  I can’t tell you how useful they are.  Even if (like me), you only manage to decipher a few, it will make all the difference. 

So here’s the skirt I’ve chosen to make.  

I love A-line skirts and fancied making one with some detail to it – I like the little pleat at the front.   Mine won't be as long as this one, as anything too full and too far below the knee starts straying into frump territory on me.  Going by the size chart, my waist size just squeezes into the largest size (13), phew.  

Expert linguist that I am, I worked out which characters translate as ‘front’ and which were ‘back’.  I then tried to translate lots more of the Japanese on the page.  Bad, bad idea - I’m not joking when I say my head was physically hurting after about twenty minutes.  So I changed my approach.  I think as long as you can work out essential translations such as ’front’ and ‘back’ etc, you can piece the instructions together just from the illustrations, which are very clearly drawn.  

For instance for the skirt pattern, I only really need the instructions for the front pleat - the insertion of a lining, zip and waistband I know how to do myself. 

Next, I had to find my front and back pieces on the pattern sheet 

Looks terrifying doesn't it?  Luckily all pattern pieces are numbered according to which pattern you're making, so it's pretty logical once you've got over the initial terror.  I just had to trace them onto tracing paper and voila – I had my pattern pieces.   I made a quick muslin, in case there were any fitting horrors before cutting into my nice Goldhawk Road fabric (see first picture).  Good job I did because it didn’t do up at the waist (ahem), so I added a bit of width to the top section of skirt and started following the instructions.  

So far so good, next time round I'll show you how it turned out... x