FO: Sunki tunic dress

This is a repeat make for Youngest, which I made at around the beginning of the year.  I intially made her a version in a very stiff denim that turned out to only just fit and was very short.

For this one I used the largest tween size in the pattern and I think lengthened it a bit.  The fabric is a lovely soft chambray that I picked up at Karen of DidYouMakeThat's 'Made Up Meet Up' last September. As soon as I saw it I thought it would be a good fabric for a tunic.

It went together well, although the pocket instructions made me stop and think for a while, even though I have done them before and they are very similar to the Portfolio tunic. I still really like the overlapping detail at the shoulder:

Despite the fact that she has worn this a lot more than she ever wore the first one, I only have a couple of pictures of her wearing it - as you can see, she was super keen to have her photo taken!

FO's: Tops for me - a Burda and a Bronte

So, still catching up with posts.  Here are a couple of tops that I made for myself earlier this year, both of which made appearances in MMM16.  I have made both of these top before and made a couple of tweaks to both.

The first is the Jennifer Lauren Vintage Bronte Top. I first made this in 2015 in a lovely coral jersey and have really enjoyed wearing it.  I bought some amazing light teal jersey with a brushed reverse, from a local shop that has since closed down. I remembered that I had wanted to lengthen the top the first time round, but had made a cutting error.  This time was more successful and I had a lovely top pretty quickly.  I think I have enough left over to make something else.

I thought that having any embelishement on the top might make it feel a bit twee but, I found some buttons left over from making Husband a couple of shirts and they match perfectly! Looking at the picture below, I think I may need to cut a smaller size in the shoulder as I don't think that the shoulder seam is supposed to sit off the shoulder like that. 

picture nabbed from MMM16

The second top is a Burda youth pattern that I made some years ago in a drapey magpie jersey that I got from Marie of A Stitching Odessey at a meet-up in London. The magpie top is still going, although I may have to retire it soon as it is looking a bit faded. It had a very long body and a deep band at the hip - if I wore opaque tights or leggings it would almost be dress, but I wear it very ruched on the hip.

The new top used up some fabric that I bought sometime ago, with the aim of trying to recreate a dress from Cos that I had tried on:

 

I decided that a- I couldn't get the dress out to the quantity of fabric in the way that I wanted, and b- I would get more wear from a top.  The fabric is quite striking and I wanted the pattern to come up from the waist with a plainer area at the neck.  Once I decided on a top, I knew that I wanted to use the Burda pattern to show off the fabric.

Having noted how long the magpie version of this is, I reduced the length of the body (can't remember by how much)  and reduced the depth of the band by half.  It seemed like a lot, but was perfect.  I started this one morning and amazingly for me, had it finished by the end of the school day - extraordinary what you can get done if you make a conscious decision not be distracted by other activities!

on my way to a party

With the party girls  husband

Two very successful tops that have seen a lot of wear since they were made.

FO: Olive Green Sewaholic Minoru Jacket

I made a coat.... ages ago and have had this post written for nearly as long...

I have had this Sewaholic Minoru Jacket pattern for 3 or 4 years, and I also had all the fabric that I was going to use for a long time - but it is not this fabric! The fabric I had in mind is a much more wintery fabric and when I made this I was after a mild weather that wasn't a raincoat or a big big down coat.

This fabric was given to me by my mum after she had been having a bit of a clear out. She had had it for sometime  and I have had it for a couple of years - I should think it is probably 25- 30 years old. It  is a thick cotton fabric with a slight brushed feel on the reverse and feels amazing. I had mentally assigned this fabric to being trousers, but it seemed to be the perfect match for this coat.

I did it step by step, using the written instructions that came with the pattern and also the sewalong on the Sewaholic website. Having done lots of research on other Minoru's I had lots of things that I wanted to incorporate, but due to fabric restrictions couldn't, but I did know I wanted external pockets (which the pattern doesn't have). I used the pattern piece for in-seam pockets that Amy of Sew Well drew up.

Details...

I made a size 6 which is a size or 2 smaller than what I would normally make. I checked the finished garment measurements  and decided that I wanted slim fitting coat for summer and therefore sized down.

Innards

The lining fabric for the body for the coat is the leftovers from making this Dear & Doe Plantain T, a couple of years ago.  The sleeve lining is possibley silk. I did a burn test on it and I am pretty sure it is silk. I picked it up in one of my local charity shops for a few pounds.

You can see that I have put in both the internal pockets, but currently only use the right hand one. My phone fits perfectly into the pockets and I would normally favour the left pocket for my phone, but when I have tried it, my phone jabs uncomfortably in to the boob that I had my operations on last summer.

I am ridiculously pleased with this.  Family and friends have been super impressed and several people have thought it was shop bought which is a bit of a result! I wore it constantly for the first week after finishing, then the weather got colder and I was back in my down coat for a while.  If and when I make this again, I will size up as the fabric that I still want to use is much thicker and I will probably underline it aswell.  I think also, that I would try welt pockets on the front - the in-seam pockets are just a fraction too far back.

Out and about with Eldest and Middlest!