#2017makenine

The word on the street at the moment seems to be #2017makenine, an Instagram initiative to make nine items during the course of the year. I can never resist jumping on a bandwagon so immediately started making lists of fabric and patterns. In my typically contrary way, I could only come up with six patterns that I really want to make in 2017 though! I don't want to include patterns just for the sake of it, so my version will have to be #2017makesix instead. My sewing strategy for the past couple of years has been to sew fewer items and focus more on wearability and fit. This seems to be working, so I'm sticking with it! I have lots of sewing plans spinning round in my head at the moment and am fully intending to sew more than six items in 2017, these are simply the six I've set my heart on.

1. Heather Dress - Sew Over It 

I've had my eye on this dress since it was first announced as a class at Sew Over It, so when it was released as a PDF pattern last year I snapped it up immediately. 

I really like the interesting side panels and pockets and I think it will be a big success in my winter wardrobe. A length of navy Ponte Roma is currently winging its way to me from Clothspot and once it arrives I'll be wasting no time sewing this up. If I can get the fit right I'd like to try a short sleeved version in a lighter knit for summer too.

2. Sangria Dress - Capital Chic

Remember the lace bonded scuba I bought from The Man Outside Sainsbury's last year? Well I think I may have found the perfect pattern to do it justice! 

The Sangia dress is a simple, elegant sheath especially designed for scuba fabric, yay! And to further inspire me, Nina has already made a beautiful bonded lace version here, which looks amazing.

3. Easy Short Sleeved Kimono Sleeved Dress - Pattern Runway on Craftsy

My simple, kimono sleeved New Look tops were a big success in 2016, so I was on the hunt for a dress version. Yes, I could probably have drafted one myself, but this pattern that I found on Craftsy seems to be absolutely perfect, so I'm saving myself the trouble! 

For my first version I'm going to use this fab, boat print rayon from Fabric Rehab (sadly they closed for business last year).

If that turns out well then I'm already dreaming of a second version in red luxury crepe.

4. Wrap Dress - New Look 6123

This pattern first came to my attention after seeing Rosa's dreamy vision of a dress here. Her dress was a mash up of two different New Look patterns, but it was the wrap style of the bodice that really caught my eye. 

Annoyingly the pattern is now out of print and I promptly fell down a rabbit hole online trying to track down a copy. Eventually I found one on eBay and am sooo excited to use it, as the pattern includes lots of different bodice and skirt variations. I find New Look patterns are a great fit on me more or less straight out of the envelope, so I have high hopes! For fabric I'll be using this firework print Liberty Tana Lawn, which was a Christmas present from my lovely husband.

5. Melilot Shirt - Deer and Doe

I love a summer shirt and this pattern has some nice details such as dropped shoulders and a rounded collar. 

I'll be using a cute sailor print viscose twill that I picked up at a Fabric Godmother open day last year (now sold out).

As an aside, I saw a gorgeous version of this shirt worn by a lady at the Handmade Fair in September. It was made from Atelier Brunette fabric, worn with a denim Arielle Skirt and she looked FAB! I chatted to her but I'm afraid I didn't get her name, so if you recognise yourself from this description, please let me know in the comments as your shirt really inspired me!

6. Maritime Shorts - Grainline Studio

I made a pair of these shorts last year and they were a roaring success on holiday so it makes sense to sew another pair. 

The stretch cotton sateen from Fabric Godmother was a good match for the pattern so I'll be using the same fabric again, probably in red. Hopefully this time round it will be a more straight forward sew, especially if I remember to use the most up to date instructions!

No doubt there'll be more than a few in-betweeny patterns, but these are the six I'm most looking forward to sewing. Have you put together a #2017makenine list? Which patterns are top of your list? x

Maritime Shorts

Oooh look! Lovely new blue shorts! They're the Maritime Shorts by Grainline Studio and I love them to bits, but they weren't an easy sew…

This was mostly down to a silly error I made regarding the instructions (sigh). The area I struggled with most was the zip fly, a few of the steps seemed to be incorrect and some of the diagrams were downright confusing. After eventually working out how it all went together, I decided to email Grainline to point out the errors I'd encountered. It was only when I was looking up Grainline's email address that I discovered an old email from them which included (you guessed it) updated PDF instructions for the fly steps. Nooooooo! When I looked at the new instructions (with gritted teeth I might add), every single point that I'd struggled with was explained more clearly and/or a different diagram used. Grrr I'm so annoyed at myself for not updating my PDF file when I first received it. I still don't think the new fly instructions are absolutely foolproof, but they're a vast improvement on the earlier version.

If you have no prior experience of sewing a zip fly then I'd recommend using the step-by-step tutorial on the Grainline blog alongside the written instructions. It definitely helped me figure out what to do when I was floundering!

Apart from the zip fly, construction of the shorts is relatively straight forward. Just take note that the very first step on the curved side pockets involves sewing convex and concave curves together - once you've figured that bit out, you're laughing.

I like how the rear patch pockets have a nice, clean finish to them once they're topstitched into position. By the way, the top folded edge is actually supposed to be on the inside of the pocket but I prefer it this way round.

For the front pocket lining I used a soft blue cotton, which gives a cute little burst of floral to the insides.

The fit is amazingly good. I was tempted to size up 'just in case', but I knew my fabric had a lot of stretch, so I cut the size that corresponded to my actual measurements - size 6. I fully expected to have to tweak the centre back waistband as I'd read a few reviews mentioning excess room in that area, but they don't gape at all.

I love the fit - they sit snugly just below my natural waistline and are really comfortable. There isn't any digging in at the waist and the width of the thigh is just right. This makes me happy as I've tried on lots of shorter length RTW shorts recently and not one pair did me any favours. To get a comfortable fit at the waist, they're always either too big round the hips or wide in the leg (think Don Estelle).

The fabric is a medium weight stretch cotton sateen from Fabric Godmother with a slight sheen to it. It's perfect for shorts as it's easy to cut out and sew and very robust. If you like the look of this particular pattern and fabric combo then Fabric Godmother also sells a Maritime Shorts Kit which includes the pattern, fabric and notions and works out slightly cheaper than buying everything separately.

As shorts go they're a bit shorter than I'd usually wear out, but for holidays and hot days they're absolutely perfect. This pair are going straight into my suitcase, ready for my holiday in a couple of weeks time! I'm pretty sure I'll make another pair next year too, just as soon as I've put the horror of the zip fly behind me! x


Fabric for the shorts was given to me free of charge by Fabric Godmother for review. All views my own.

My PDF Shame

This week was the week I checked my long neglected PDF pattern folder. Stay with me please, it's not quite that boring! Now I'll almost always opt for a printed pattern over a PDF version (unless there's no choice of course), so I wasn't expecting to find much. Imagine my surprise when I discovered 25 patterns in there, 25! But the worst thing was that around half of them were completely unused - just purchased in a frenzy and forgotten about forever. I felt especially bad as there are some absolute gems amongst them:

Summer Blouse - Maison Fleur

Anderson Blouse - Sew Over It

Edith Blouse and Dress - Maria Denmark

Maritime Shorts - Grainline

I could go on….

With a paper pattern you have a physical reminder of your purchase, but this doesn't happen with PDFs. And because of the additional time needed to print out and tape them together, it's easy to sweep PDFs aside in favour of a quicker fix. Maybe I need to start printing out the instructions and putting them in envelopes so they're more visible? 

This then got me thinking about what other patterns might be lurking in the shadows in different forms. One area I tend to totally overlook is sewing books. Again, it's a mental block with me - if they're not in a pattern envelope I'm blind to them. This is mad because I've had some real successes with sewing book patterns (see below), and really should make an effort to use them more frequently. 

Anita Tie Top from Sew Over It Vintage

Lace Pencil Skirt from Fashion with Fabric

Whilst we're on the subject, I also have an entire cupboard of sewing magazines with free patterns, maybe I should start perusing those too?! 

Does anybody else completely forget about the PDF patterns they own? Or is it just me?! Perhaps it's time for some kind of pattern inventory to keep them front of mind? If there's a particular reference system that's worked for you, I'd love to know. Thank you! x