Shopping again

I went shopping on Sunday of all days when the world and its children were out shopping...tut.....anyway I bought some fabric for more shirts and at last some fabric for a relaxed jacket and more linen for trousers. The thing is, and this is not an excuse to buy fabric, but I have to buy what I like when I see it otherwise it would be gone when I go back if that makes sense lol lol

Above.....from the left.....dark navy linen for trousers, £14.50 a metre.....good quality. Breathable lining in navy and sage £9.95 a metre, this is beautiful lining from John Lewis.

Above from the left .......a herringbone linen, it is blue but in fact it might be more of a violet, lovely colour, for a relaxed jacket, I am not quite sure if I suit tailored jackets, this was £13.50 a metre. The other fabric is for a shirt and is described as an ethnic floral and is £12 a metre, very pretty colours and is a viscose.

I am not quite sure about these 2 fabrics.....they are both 100% cotton the white is a slub weave at £6 a metre, the blue is an Oxford cotton also at £6 a metre both fabrics are for shirts but they feel a little stiff to me......maybe if I wash them a few times it will soften them up.

I posted I had bought this bag the other day.....well I tried to get all of my stuff in and it was just too small so I returned it and bought this one

Lovely soft tan leather.....scrummy if that is the right word.

I also needed some new make up.....well not really but I couldn't resist these from my favourite Clarins........eye shadow palette, a highlighter for cheek bones and brow arches and anywhere else you care to highlight and a tinted lip balm, all summer colours apparently.

Last but not least a dark maroon.....darker than it looks here.....nail varnish, there were four in a pack, this is one of them.

My flowery shirt only needs the cuffs , buttonholes and buttons stitched on.....I like it better than I did but I'm still not sure....my husband says he would wear it, not in my size he wouldn't lol lol

Comparison

I have been compairing the shape of RTW shirts to the shirts that I make.

I know they are two totally different styles but the shape of the RTW on the left just doesn't flatter my shape at all infact I think it makes me look rather matronly and frumpy.......the one on the left which was handmade suits my shape a lot better even though I haven't quite got the fitting right over the shoulders.
I have bought more fabric for shirts I will take photographs later, we have got builders in at the moment.....ugh.... more mess.

Ready to wear

I bought 3 tops when I went shopping yesterday and I'm not quite sure that I love any of them. I think I am so used to making my things I really don't know what to buy and if I am satisfied with the fit of them.

This is the first one, I don't mind the fabric, I think the style is a little young for me, I like the colour but I don't think I suit collars.

This little dog does make me laugh..........anyway on to the second, this fabric isn't very good it is also a dirty white......I think it is a poor quality voil, I don't like the grandad collar on this one, so this one is definitely a NO, even though Sky seems to like it lol lol

Very bad photograph......I love this fabric, it is linen and very pretty colours but it is one of those styles that makes you look pregnant, I am not keen on the neckline so I don't think I will be keeping this one either.

So I dont like any of these tops and the fabric of my latest project is awful.......I'm really having a great time......NOT

I really love this,

which I bought to go with these,

I'm not sure about this fabric at all......ugh....I thought it was a really sweet, feminine, airy, summer cotton but it just reminds me of my grandma's flowerey all in one aprons that she used to wear. I should follow my instincts and I should know after all of my mistakes that I am a plain and simple sort of person and I just don't suit busy fabric designs. I am going to finish it though.
I have got the neckline done, I actually altered the neckline by taking a 1/4" wedge from the front neckline and tapering to nothing at the armsye, I am hoping this will stop the shoulder seams pulling to the back but .....who knows.

I pinned a sleeve in just to see if it would look a little bit better......no it doesn't.

It is lovely fabric and sews up beautifully, maybe I can wear it as sleepwear lol lol

Flowered shirt

I have cut out my flowered shirt and marked it all.......I hate transferring markings with a passion. I know this is one of the most important tasks in sewing especially thread tracing, it helps me so much but I really hate doing it so I do it in small increments. I make sure all the preparation is done altogether cutting, marking, choosing and cutting interfacing and thread and button choice and it all takes so much time when you are impatient to get started sewing, it takes all of my willpower not to just jump in and start sewing on my machine.


I am a little disappointed with this fabric, it wasn't cheap but when I was making samples of different interfacings and I used some steam the dye came out of the fabric onto my ironing board. This has never happened to me before, if I had known what was going to happen I would have washed it another couple of times.....I washed it once......funnily enough the dye off the flowers hasn't come out onto the white backround of the fabric, I wonder if it is the heat and moisture together that is doing it. Anyway I am not going to waste it.

Above you can see the imprint on my ironing board cover from the fabric so I have covered my ironing board with some white sheeting while I make this shirt. I will definitely have to make another cover now.

I don't think I will get much sewing done for the next few months because we are having some home improvements done. Sigh, sigh.

Finished shirt

I am calling this a shirt because I didn't want a fitted blouse, I wanted a slouchy shirt something relaxed and casual. Did I achieve that?......I don't know, I think I have too many curves and bulges but I am happy with the result even though there are lots of fitting issues to be sorted.

This is the shirt that I absolutely love

a Calvin Klein big slouchy shirt........this is my interpretation

as you can see the shoulders are slipping to the back but they are like that on the pattern picture as well. I could have added more darts but that would have been a fitted blouse and that isn't what I am looking for. This shirt would have been massive, I have had to take out about 4" from the width and about 2" from the sleeves, add a dart and do a FBA, the yoke..... I had to do extensive alterations because of my round shoulders, I also had to put a seam down the middle and add extra width.

The sleeves also had a lot of alterations, they weren''t long enough, they were far too wide, I had to extend the top of the armsye to accomodate my large shoulders and take out some pleats from the cuff .

The shoulder seam was too far down the arm so I adjusted for that as well. I am happy with everything except the shoulders, but I will have to live with it unless I want it more fitted.

These pictures are with my tailored trousers.

These pictures are with the navy chino cotton trousers I have just finished, I suppose I could wear my trainers with these for a more casual look.

These are with my white cotton and linen trousers, lovely and light an airy for summer.....not sure about the earrings. I tried a leather belt at my waist that was a no no, it looked ridiculous.

This little one had to get in on the act wanting her belly tickled .....as usual.

Finished

I have finished my white top but it really needs a wash and press, I am going out tomorrow so it will have to wait until Sunday.

I think I might wash the crinkle cotton next and make the same top without the sleeves. I'll see.

Just for something to look at......here is a picture of me getting a retrieve from Piper in a competition, that is the judge standing next to me. This was last year, I came 3rd.

Shopping again

I bought the two fabrics below over a year ago and I had decided to wash and dry them ready to sew them when I finish my white blouse..... so I went shopping today for some buttons for my white blouse and some thread for the fabrics below. The plain lighter green fabric is linen the other is lining.

This fabric is silk which has to dry cleaned but I put it on a delicate wash and it is fine, I can't be doing with dry cleaning blouses.

These are now washed and dried and put away in my box ready to be used..... however when I went shopping today I found some fabric for another summer shirt.

Now I am not a flowery person at all.....I am plain and simple really, but I saw this lovely crinkle cotton print which caught my eye. This was £5.95 a metre and I got 3 metres which cost me nearly £18.00.....not a cheap blouse when you can buy RTW cheaper, probably not the same quality though.

This is a closer look, lovely for summer.

I think I might wash this fabric for my next project......I'll see.

These are the other things that I bought, the white stuff is interfacing, a very lightweight interfacing which I bought for the silk shirt, the other interfacing is for stretch fabrics which I have never used before. The cream coloured threads are silk for the silk blouse and the green is pure cotton for the linen trousers. The buttons are lovely little shirt buttons with a gold trim, they were half price so I bought 24, I have had them before and they look lovely on white fabric. They won't be getting anymore so I bought extra.

All this little lot cost me £50 and a few pence, sewing is an expensive hobby.

White blouse

This is the placket and pleats before the cuff goes on, I haven't done a sleeve with a cuff for a long time, I generally do 3/4 sleeves with a vent so I am enjoying doing this.

Another view, this is lovely fabric to work with, it is very delicate and airy.

This is the neckline and the facing, this is a big shirt, I have already taken out about 2" in width and it is still a big shirt......I hope I am going to like it.

This is the bust dart which I had to add for a bit of shaping, it was about a 2" dart so I had to trim and overcast it with a small zig zag stretch stitch, it looks a lot better trimmed down.

This is my iron, which I have had for over 20 years. It is a Hashima H1-350PS.....this looks a little bit dated but believe me this little contraption does the business, I don't use a sole plate either they are a real nuisance I would rather use a muslin cloth. The ironing board which my iron is standing on is about 40 years old, the top of it fell to bits so my DH put me a piece of plywood on top and screwed it on......it is wider than an average ironing board and is padded with flananette and a white ironing board cover on top which I made, I need a new one this one is quite discoloured now.

I know this looks a little strange, I have a hook with which to hang it from the ceiling but I would rather use this just incase it falls.