Maker Monday: Navy Me Made Shorts

My finishes me made shorts in navy polycotton with contrast pattern panels. 

I took a pattern from my fave pair from Next and made a few changes. These were great on my recent staycation - nice and light, easy to wear and custom made to fit me. 

The contrast printed fabric is remnants from another make - can you recognise which one its from?

FBF: The Ivy at Tower Bridge, London

 A recent outing to The Ivy at Tower Bridge; and its lovely vibrant decor. 

Guano by Judit Reigl

 


This painting 'Guano' by Judit Reigl is on display in the Tate Modern in London. 

The texture is a 'build up of paint from other works falling onto the canvas laid on the floor. it then develops a crust on top, similar to excrement, from where the painting gets its name'

Maker Monday: Belt Loops

Belt loops...a fiddly detail, but at times, a very necessary addition to clothing. 

These were added to my recent me made shorts in contrast fabric to match the pocket flaps and panels. 

To create them, i used the fabric remnants from another top i made and cut them into bias strips roughly 3.5cm wide. I then joined them together in one long strip before passing them through a bias maker to turn in the edges. 
I wanted to keep them quite wide so topstitched them on top of one another. This not only look neater but reinforces the loop as they can deteriorate through friction if wearing a belt. 

If you would like to buy bias makers, a set of 4 sizes can be bought here

Half-Scale Mannequin

For my recent birthday, this wonderful half-scale mannequin entered my life!

A wonderful resource to test ideas on and work at a smaller scale. I think its also going to be a great help when demonstrating to students in the new academic year. 

If you're interested in purchasing one for yourself, these are available to buy on Etsy or via halfscaledummies.com



Maker Monday; Butterick Pleated Top

Another long over due make!

I've finally finished my Butterick B5988 top in navy viscose with pleat details. 

Those who have followed me for a while will know that commercial patterns and i don't always get along. I usually have to make a lot of adjustments to the pattern to get it to fit my body proportions. To combat this, I merged my block pattern with the butterick one to get a more custom fit (and it saved a lot of time too!)

Something to remember if you're having trouble with your own commercial patterns. Consider creating a custom drafted pattern or take a pattern from a favourite garment; this will give you a pattern block to merge with the commercial one and will prevent you having to make a lot of adjustments :)