Love At First Stitch Delphine Skirt

 

I couldn’t wait to have a go at this pattern after seeing so many versions on the blogosphere of late. I found this cerise linen at Leon’s in Chorlton. I loved its brightness, and of course it goes beautifully with navy 😉 To be honest it’s probably a bit ‘floppy’ to hold this exaggerated a-line style to its true beauty, but I couldn’t resist.

The last couple of patterns I’ve attempted have been printable PDFs so it was a pleasant change to have to trace a pattern. I quite enjoyed the process, and it certainly felt more durable. I opted for a size 2, which despite looking pretty small as I was sewing it up, probably because of the high waist, turned out well.

Tilly’s instructions were great, but I must admit to annoying myself and blanking out some of them in favour of methods I’d used in constructing BHL’s Charlotte (still in my humble opinion the best invisible zip tutorial, although maybe because it was the first one I used?) and Colette’s Ginger skirts. I really tried to follow Tilly’s but my impatience took over, does anyone else annoy themselves like this? I did however follow her option of machine stitching the facing to the inside of the skirt. She does state that you could do this by hand, but I opted for the quick fix. I really didn’t mind the stitching showing, but I didn’t find it as neat as hand stitching on the inside, maybe you get better with practice at this? She also mentions ‘stitching in the ditch’ which I have read about, but never tried. Maybe I’ll do some research and attempt this technique next time.

I loved how it turned out. My only slight niggle was that I didn’t manage to line up the waistband seams with those of the main body of the skirt and I really did try. 😦 Annoying, but probably only noticeable to those who sew themselves (fingers crossed!) I’m hoping one day to get to the point where there isn’t always something! When does this happen exactly? Dramatic sigh! I’m hoping once I’ve finished school for the Summer I’ll have more time to spend on sewing and will learn to slow down. Mmmmm, we’ll see if I can stick to that…

It does feel a little short for Summer too, although Tilly does describe it finishing  ‘a flirty few inches above the knees’, so I should have been expecting this. As an Autumn/Winter skirt this would be no problem with the help of woolly tights, but I’m a bit conscious of my legs without them and find just an extra inch and a half much more flattering. I’m already picturing this with some navy lace attached to the hem… Old habits die hard!

I’ll definitely give this another go, in fact I might have already done just that! Will post later in the week…

And did I mention how much I loved Tilly’s book, particularly the styling ‘make it your own’ sections? Seeing as I’m a serial multiple maker of a pattern, these sections will prove especially useful and I love a good book to flick through for future sewing projects in the evenings. Tilly certainly provides plenty of that coupled with a huge degree of enthusiasm 🙂

 

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Frivolous Fridays: Raincloud Mobile

So my daughter’s decided that she wants to do a sewing project every week so she’s ready to write her own sewing blog when she’s older… She’s currently six, what have I started?!! Seriously, you may want to look away from my Friday posts if you’re not into kids’ makes. You have been warned…

Flicking through some old magazines I came across this Liberty project featured in an old issue of Molly Makes (issue no. 32)

Perfect! But I figured we’d use some felt I already had in, coupled with lots of beads and some hand sewing. Sure enough she liked the idea and much to my amazement, my son wanted to join in too. My husband was very impressed with the silent (seriously this doesn’t happen very often), industrious atmosphere surrounding our kitchen table when he came home from work 🙂

The finished result isn’t quite as professional as MM’s featured version, but not bad considering we had all the ingredients already, so no expense required. And the value of that hour’s silence? Priceless!

Simple Sew Lottie Blouse

This was the free pattern that came with the second edition of Love Sewing magazine. I had plenty of material left over from my BHL Polly top, so I thought I’d give this a go…

Having an actual pattern was so much easier that constructing their headache-inducing, overlapping PDF one that came with their previous edition! As usual I was torn between cutting the size 8 and 10, but opted for the 10 as, much to my joy, I discovered upon closer inspection that this pattern didn’t require button holes 😉 * The disadvantage of no buttonholes however is that it’s harder to pull on over my chest, hence I ended up plumping for the 10.

The construction of this was really pretty simple. On a skills front this is probably the neatest bias binding I’ve ever attached. I used some white ready-made which was perfect. I felt really pleased with myself, but then came what was supposed to be the ‘pussy bow’ tie… I’m still not sure whether it was me or the pattern, (probably me, I know!) but I ended up with more of a ‘dickie bow’. I did consult Simple Sew’s Facebook page for additional ‘attaching’ instructions, but still ended up with this…

I’m not sure as to whether I should unpick this and attempt to construct an actual pussy bow tie or just leave it like it is. I don’t have any of the spot material left, but I do have some more gingham. What do you think?

*My mum has spoken to the shop she bought my machine from and they’re more than happy to give me a belated demonstration, but I’ll probably have to wait until the Summer holidays roll around until I manage a trip over. So buttonholes, I have you in my sights!