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.

Vintage Pledge 2016

As March is fast approaching, I thought I'd better officially sign up for this year's Vintage Pledge before the year runs away with me. The Vintage Pledge, now in its third year, is co-hosted by Marie at A Stitching Odyssey and Kerry at Kestrel Makes in a bid to encourage us to sew up some of our beautiful vintage patterns more regularly. Last year, I made a rather rashly thought out pledge to sew up a vintage halter neck top pattern, which I then had to abandon. But I did still end up sewing three garments from vintage patterns last year, so I don't consider it a failure. 

 For this year's pledge, I've chosen to be purposefully vague:

"I, Jane, pledge to sew up two vintage patterns in 2016 - one suitable for summer and one suitable for winter." 

I'm already hard at work on my topper, which takes care of the winter part of the pledge, I just need to decided on a summer pattern. Interestingly, all three patterns I sewed last year (here, here and here) were ones I'd used before, so it would be good to step outside my comfort zone. One thing I'm reasonably sure of is that it won't be a dress pattern. I already have at least two summer dresses in the pipeline for this year and in all honesty, I don't think I can accommodate many more. My total dress tally is probably far fewer than lots of other sewing bloggers, but it's still more than enough for me! So I'll be concentrating on separates pattern, with these three currently on my shortlist:

Vogue 8696 from 1955 - a sleeveless version of C would make a very chic bow blouse.

McCall's 4168 from 1957 - which has a lovely gathered waist and shoulder detail. 

The wild card is McCall 8061 from 1950. These 1950's shorts are almost identical to a red pair I own from Vivien of Holloway - with a high waistband and patch pockets to the front. The problem with my VofH shorts is the sizing: the waist to hip ratio is 12 inches, and in order to get a comfortable fit around the waist, the hips are ginormous. I ended up taking in the inner and outer seams to reduce the hips, which sort of works but they don't look great on. It would be good to make a pair that actually fitted properly!  

I'll let you know once I've made my mind up. Which pattern do you think I should make?!  x

Summer blouse with shorts shocker

This 1950's blouse was my last stab at dressmaking before the school holidays kicked in and my sewing effectively ground to a halt. I found this darling little Style Print pattern at the South Bank Vintage Festival last year. 

The difficult part wasn't sewing up the blouse, it was deciding which option to go for.  In the end, I went for View B: a buttoned front, short sleeves and lovely collar detail, isn't it cool? 

It's such a great 1950's detail. It's the first time I've used a Style Print pattern and the clear directions and sturdy pattern paper were a delight.  I'll definitely be looking out for more of them.

I used a linen mix polka dot fabric I found at the bottom of a remnant box at a vintage fair. Like the cotton pique I used for my first Peony dress, this fabric is quite drapey and my suspicions were that it would sew up larger than a normal woven fabric because of the extra stretch. I was right. View B isn't supposed to have any darts, but looked positively sack-like when first sewn without them. Handily, there were darts positioned on the same pattern piece for the other views. So I added two sets of darts to both the front and back. 

The back fitted perfectly, but I had to remove one set of front darts to avoid button-gaping - the final fit is absolutely fine. I was also able to use up the last of my vintage shell buttons, the rest of which adorn the back of my Roobeedoo top.

Although this blouse looks fine tucked in, I made it to wear in the holidays, and because of the darts, I can wear it untucked…. with shorts. 

I can't actually believe I'm typing these words and showing these pictures. Eighteen months ago I wouldn't show my bare knees and didn't even possess a pair of shorts. I had it in my head that it was somehow against the law for a woman over 40 to reveal her knees or wear shorts or an above-the-knee skirt.  It's not that I've got issues with my legs or anything, I just felt I was a bit past it. 

Well, the skirt problem was soon solved thanks to the super flattering properties of the Colette Patterns Beignet and Ginger skirts.  Fast forward a few months and I now also own a pair of shorts - Banana Republic rather than me-made I'm afraid, but hey, it's a start. Banana Republic trousers fit me perfectly and I knew a pair of shorts bought there would be way more flattering than anything I'd make myself. And you know what? I like these photos, they don't have me running for the hills, and that's the main thing.

Ooh attitude...

I blame sewing blogs. They've got a lot to answer for in terms of confidence building and pushing you out of your comfort zone! I'm very aware of what suits my shape and won't sew something that I know will be unflattering. But… since I started sewing and reading blogs, I've experimented with different styles and made things I've been dying to have in my wardrobe for ages, just because I can. I'll never be wild and mad when it comes to colour, but I'm happy to test out just how many variants of red, blue, grey and turquoise can be found in the world. Some choices I regret, but hand on heart, I'd say I wear about 80% of my handmade clothes on a regular basis, so something must be working.

What about you? Have sewing blogs encouraged you to be more adventurous with your clothing choices? Have you ever sewn something you'd never have picked out in a million years, just because somebody on a sewing blog looks fabulous in it? I know I have….  x