Finished Project - Grainline Studio Scout Tee

I'd been eyeing up this pattern for a while after seeing a couple of great versions around in blogland. I'm really drawn to vintage sewing patterns and pretty dresses when choosing patterns and looking for inspiration which may be gorgeous and fun to make but are completely impractical and so would get hardly any wear. This pattern I know I'd get a lot of wear out of, I live in loose fit t's, plus I thought this pattern in it's simplicity provides quite a lot of scope for making it original and unique.

As well as the bargain price of this pattern the final clincher to me buying it was the discovery of the new remnant bins in Liberty's haberdashery department! Most pieces are 1m offcuts of their tana lawn prints so perfect for a simple little top like this. I'd never normally dream of buying Liberty fabrics but these offcuts are half price and I had a gift voucher to spend so I was able to treat myself to two pieces at £11 each. At by far the most per metre I'd ever spent this did mean I was terrified when cutting into it but it was just beautiful to sew with and I think you can tell the quality of the fabric in the finished make, or at least I can when wearing it!

Gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn!

The neckline sits at just the right height

I was worried about the fit of this top and as I could see myself making quite a selection of these in future thought it would be worthwhile making a muslin to get this right. The main reason I was worried about the fit was the lack of darts in a woven top. I've got some boobs so was concerned the fabric below would just hang out from these in a most unflattering way. It turns out I was concerned for no reason and this lady really knows how to construct pattern! There's something about the seam placement that makes everything hang just right and just loose enough in the most flattering way. I think any bigger boobs would call for a FBA but I'm quite happy with it as it is, as long as I remember to choose lightweight fabrics which will drape nicely.


The only part of the construction I had trouble with was the neckband. I got very confused with the instructions and on my muslin ended up with a little strip of bias tape inside the neckline which kept flicking out to the right side and looking most untidy! After some serious studying of other people's makes on the net I realised this band was meant to be stitched down inside so you had a neat visible line of stitching around the neckline from the outside. This, in combination with the softer, lighter fabric of my final make, made a huge improvement and the neckline I now think sits perfectly. I love the shape of the neckline and the little cap sleeves, just the right size too.

The neckband took a bit of figuring out

This is a really quick and satisfying make for when you feel bogged down in a long winded, complicated one and just want to finish something. I wore this to the evening blogger meet up at the V&A a couple of weeks ago and only started it that morning! I even used french seams and gathered the sleeve heads properly instead of just trying to jam them into the armholes any way they will go!

Lovely cap Sleeves!

The only change I might try next time (as there will definitely be a next time!) is to make the pattern a little longer. I quite like wearing this one over a white vest to create a layered look and it's great to tuck into skirts but in general I prefer my tops for over jeans to be more hip length. I might even branch out with the creativity a little and even try drafting a peter pan collar to go on the next one! I may also try it in a drapey knit as I loved this version by a secret life of seams, it's almost a completely different top in this fabric and fit don't you think?

I'm quite proud of my neat hem so I thought it deserved a picture!

Grainline Studio's - Moss Mini-skirt

I really like the simplicity of Grainline Studio patterns. They've just brought out a new miniskirt pattern which is high on the list for a winter make.


And while we're on independent pattern companies I've been picking up a lot of interest in the French company Deer and Doe. Their patterns are really gorgeous, simple lines with unique details and their international postage rates are very reasonable. I've got my eye on the Belladone dress here!

Final pic of me wearing the tee at the V&A meet up - picture thanks to Karen at Did You Make That

Sewaholic Lonsdale Muslin (otherwise known as the best thing I've ever made!)

I decided a while back that I'd like to make myself a dress for my cousin's wedding at the end of September and after careful consideration decided on the Sewaholic Lonsdale. I've seen some great versions of it on the net as well as some great reviews of all the Sewaholic patterns and thought it was high time I gave one a try! It would be the first dress I'd make so although I was tempted but some lovely full skirted vintage patterns I had I thought I had better first try a pattern with clear instructions and pattern markings! I thought the shape would be lovely for a wedding with it's fitted bodice and full skirt plus would suit me as I like a fitted bodice and a bit of shoulder on view. Plus as it is for a relaxed wedding in the Cornish countryside I can see it made up in a fun print.

Just check out the effort I made to do this properly, drew out all pattern pieces and notches instead of getting the cutting out done as quick as possible!

I've never bothered with a muslin before but have had problems with the fit of my finished items (just see my version of the Salme Patterns colour block t!). I decided it would probably be a good idea to make the effort on this project A) because I actually had an occasion to wear this to and didn't want to look silly in a dress that didn't fit, B) because I'd never worked with a Sewaholic pattern before so am not used to Tasia's sizing and C) because the fabric I wanted to use for the final dress was £6.50/m from Goldhawk Road and while that may not seem pricey to some is a lot for me who is still experimenting with cheap polyblends! However I still wrestle with the idea of using fabric to make something which is never going to be worn. I decided to make the muslin out of a plain black bargain piece from Rolls n Rems in Lewisham so I wouldn't mind if everything went horribly wrong but which I could wear if it somehow miraculously did fit!

Does that face say pleased?!

And miraculously fit it did! I cannot emphasise enough how happy I am with this make and how much I LOVE this pattern! Tasia's instructions are fantastic, there's not too much reading to do but enough detail is included in the text and diagrams to explain clearly to a seamstress with little knowledge. I also made use of the sew-a-long resource which was brilliant for taking the make a little bit further with the additional options of adding stay-tape and different seam finishings. I wanted to make the effort to finish this dress well to make it something a bit special plus to make it last and Tasia's clarity and enthusiasm really spurred me on to do so, even with the muslin!

More evidence of doing things properly - stay-tape inside the bodice and pinked seams which would eventually be enclosed

The construction of the dress is SO cleverly thought out it made it a really satisfying make. Just from the way the dress is put together with the self-lined bodice meant half my finishing was done for me. I felt so chuffed with how neat my bodice was looking inside and out that when I made a start on the skirt I thought 'I've GOT to make this look as good too!'. I'm a bit daunted by the thought of fully lining something yet but I bound all my seams with bias tape to create a lovely tidy finish inside the skirt. I never thought I'd be bothered with this finish as it seemed like so much effort for each seam, twice along each side of the seam; but it actually didn't take that long and was very simple and satisfying.

Mmmm...bias bound insides!

Once bodice, skirt and waistband were attached I had a bit of an issue with the waistband being slightly shorter than the other pieces. I've had this before when using interfaced pieces and am wondering if when I iron on the interfacing it all shrinks slightly?? Anyone had this problem before? I did preshrink my fabric...Anyway I trimmed down the edges of the skirt and bodice to match which I was concerned would make it too small but doesn't seem to have caused a problem.

The only point where I'm tempted to try a bit of adjustment in fit is the lower back. I've often wondered if when I came to making fitted dresses I would need to play with a sway back adjustment and here I've got a few bumps in this area. I'm not sure if this is totally due to excess fabric though, maybe more to do with dodgy zip insertion!

Bumpy lower back

Bumpy zip edge - but still very straight and even!

I'm not completely happy with the zip but I've always found them difficult and it's an improvement on what I've managed before so for a wearable muslin it's fine. One aspect I did struggle with was hemming...I decided just to turn and press, then turn and press again then stitch round on the machine as I didn't mind the stitching showing, I do in fact quite like that feature if I can manage to do it neatly. However if I turned and pressed the recommended couple of inches because of the flare of the skirt I had real issues with getting the hem to sit flat as the inside folded up part was wider than the outside. I've never been sure what to do about this so does anyone want to shed some light on my stupidity with this?! In the end I just did a narrower hem and shortened it by more than I was going to as I already needed to take quite a chunk off to make it my preferred length as I've got quite short legs!

The fabric I've chosen for my final Lonsdale is a bit stiffer than this flimsy black polycotton, which I'm quite pleased about as I think it will give the bodice and nice stiffness and hold some shape in the fullness of the skirt. I'm really pleased I've practised all the finishing in advance too so I won't have any nasty surprises along the way. Plus I'm really relieved that it pretty much fits straight from the pattern so I don't need to start learning about adjusting patterns to fit quite yet! Lazy seamstress I know!

London 2012!!

I hope you all enjoyed the Olympic experience as much as I did. Did any of you make it into the Olympic Park or any other venues? The Park is just fantastic and the atmosphere in that stadium like nothing else I've ever experienced. I felt incredibly privileged to be in there during rehearsals for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and got such a buzz just walking into work each day. I won't bore you all silly with stories but wanted to share just a couple of my highlights with you, I'm sure you all have your own!

Setting up on the day of the Closing Ceremony

My role was Assistant Costume Supervisor which is a job quite hard to describe! It involves a whole lot of different things but basically the Costume Supervisor's role is to supervise the realisation of the designer's ideas. This involves arranging and supervising the makers and construction process, sourcing fabrics, running fittings, arranging costume hires, buying footwear, accessories, underwear and generally doing anything necessary to ensure everything looks it's best on the night. With 24,000 costumes across the four ceremonies, that was quite a task! On the nights of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies I was responsible for dressing the Headline Talent which was quite an exciting experience in itself. It was very surreal being in a green room with all those famous names.

That's my arm in the background! Photo from Jessie J's Twitter

Another famous face I will never forget my encounter with was Prince Charles! Along with the Duchess of Cornwall he visited our costume workshop for a tour in the run up to the games and I was lucky enough to have a chat with the man himself. This picture of me was even on The Telegraph website!

Photo: PA The Telegraph

A personal highlight for me was the open day when we could invite family to come into our costume workshop and help make some of the costumes! My Nan, Sister and Stepdad came along and had a fantastic time helping construct the wings for the light up Dove Bikes at the end of the Opening Ceremony. My Nan and Sister enjoyed some hand sewing while may Stepdad took on the more manly task of installing fibre optics! It was so fantastic to be able to show them where I was working and what I was up to.

My proud Nan with her completed tail feather!

The one disadvantage of my job was that I didn't actually get to see pretty much anything in the way of sporting activity during the games, even on the TV. I'm thoroughly enjoying being home during the Paralympics, I don't think my TV's been off the Channel 4 coverage once since the start! However, I did get to share one amazing moment with 80,000 people during the Olympic Games. Mo Farah winning gold in the 5000 metres! During the games we were working partly in the park but in the costume compound situated just outside the stadium, preparing for the closing ceremony so we could hear the crowd but not see the action. However, on this one occasion we stole the opportunity to run down inside one of the tunnels and cheer on Mo. And cheer we did! I have never heard a noise like it, following the athletes around in an involuntary mexican wave and rising to an absolute crescendo on the final lap. The entire crowd were on their feet and physically jumping up and down. Definitely an experience not to be forgotten.

Mo on his lap of honour

Even discounting these few amazing moments the entire experience was incredible, I had to kick myself a few times every day and even now it's hard to believe it all happened. There was a fantastic buzz surrounding the whole ceremonies team that just grew and grew the closer we got to 27th July. Being in the voms of the stadium on the big nights was brilliant. The cast were all whooping and clapping, cheering each other on before their big entrance. The experience of the ceremonies themselves were more than a little bit emotional if I'm honest! I lost count of the number of times I saw the costume team cry as those chimneys went up during rehearsal! 

Action in the vom during the Opening Ceremony

I hope you've all got some great memories of the Games too, I'm so sad it's nearly all over!

I'm back! (Catch up post)

So I pre-epmted the fact that things might get a little quiet around the blog while I was working on the Olympic Ceremonies over the summer but I didn't predict almost 3 months of NOTHING! Working on the Olympics I think will remain one of the most incredible experience of my life, for the rest of my life but my oh my did it take over my life for those missing 3 months. Not that I'm complaining, I would not have changed a second of it and any time I wasn't there I was wishing I was! I'm planning a little follow up post so I can share with you some of my experiences of the games.

I may have done a  little lap round the workshop with this after the picture!

Anyway, back to stitching! I may have been forced to take a blogging and sewing sabbatical but that doesn't mean I missed out on the joy of seeing what all you have been up to. Thanks to the handy bloglovin' app on my phone I was able to make the most of my morning and evening (read night-time!) commute and catch up with the real world of sewing. I've really enjoyed reading about everyone's summer makes and fabric shopping trips and been itching to get started on my own. I have A LOT of plans and as I finished work a couple of week's ago I've already got some sewing to share! Expect posts a-plenty over the next couple of weeks (although actually maybe I shouldn't be promising that!)

I've been enjoying easing myself back into the world of sewing doing some long awaited and much needed alterations to some of my high street garments (including a disaster of a shortened hem on a jersey maxi dress! Even with a ballpoint needle my machine did NOT like that jersey). I don't know about everyone else but since I've started sewing and my own skills have been improving I find myself less and less satisfied with high street garments. Particularly when it comes to the fit. When shopping before I think it always used to be 'yes that's the right size' because the size up was too big and the size down too small. But now I think in much more detail about whether those darts are doing the right thing, if it fits the curve of my back correctly, is that particular length quite right for me? All these considerations have led to a dramatic increase in high street shopping for me, plus the fact that everything now seems so overpriced when I know I could make something very similar myself for half the price. So anyway, I'm slowly working my way through my wardrobe thinking about whether items actually fit or even actually suit me and thinking about if there is anything I can do about that.

I spent a leisurely afternoon on Goldhawk road (once I'd fended off the shopkeepers!) scouring the shops for fabric to make up a Sewaholic Lonsdale for my cousin's wedding. I found something I think perfect for the job; quite a robust cotton with a fun floral print which I think is a little bit different but not too wild for a quiet Cornish wedding. I've just finished a wearable muslin of the dress and can't wait to get started on the real thing!

I also managed to take advantage of a fab subscription offer to 'Sew' magazine. I've had a short trial subscription to this mag before and it's great because every issue comes with a free dress pattern! I did find quite a lot of the content of the magazine to be more craft based than dressmaking however so did not continue the subscription after the trial. Then I spotted an add for a 6 month subscription with the most amazing free gift I ever did see! For £27 you get 6 issues (with free pattern each issue), the Colette Sewing Handbook and two Colette patterns (the Ceylon and Parfait). What a steal! Of course I snapped it up immediately but haven't had a chance to do anything other than flip through the book.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and my wonderful fella did a super job at making me feel extra special for the day. He treated me to a surprise day out at Leeds Castle, the biggest surprise being my Mum, Sister and Stepdad waiting there for us when I hadn't seen them for nearly three months! We had a picnic in the gorgeous grounds as it was for once a beautiful summer's day. I'd highly recommend a visit there if you're looking for a day out. He then surpassed himself with my prezzie, a stunning antique Singer Sewing machine, fully working, complete with case! Not sure how much I'll be making on here as I don't think I could cope with one handed sewing while I turn the wheel to make it go, but I'll give it a try!

The most recent bit of excitement was of course the blogger meet-up last night at the V&A Ballgowns exhibition with a lovely stop off at the pub afterwards. It was my first meet up and I had an amazing time meeting people who I felt I already knew from reading their blogs! It was great to chat about all things sewing, pick up some tips and compare handmade items. I wore my version of the Grainline Studios Scout Tee which I only completed yesterday (blog post to follow) and was pleased to see two other versions within the group! The exhibition itself I thought was gorgeous, some really fantastic examples of a range of styles from the 1950s up to present day. Now my sewing skills and knowledge of construction is improving i find myself enjoying exhibitions like this so much more because I can pick up on and appreciate interesting construction methods or decorative techniques which have been used. I preferred the layout of the top floor of the exhibition as the dresses here were not contained behind glass so you could get a good look from all angles and your view was not distorted by the lighting hitting the glass. Thanks so much Karen for organising this great get together!