WEEK FIFTY TWO!!!

Here it is, week fifty two! I have come to the end of my first year of sewing adventures! I still can't quite believe it has been a whole year. It has gone so quickly. This post is a little late but I feel like I have been putting it off. Maybe out of complete disbelief that it's all over or maybe because I have been super busy yet again. However do not fear for now I can share with you all my final creation. It is a real treat. I know it is my last one and of course I would be proud anyway but I really have to say that this is my most favourite piece I have every made. I love it. It's the Polly Jacket.

So a little of where the pattern came from. The design has come from the fabulous new Polly Top from By Hand London, free to download from their website. I helped put this free download together and I couldn't wait to make it. Since then I just can't get enough of it. It is perfect for creating loads of different looks and adapting to many different styles. Below I thought I would show you what I have been up to and how you can play around with some fun additions. 

Here is the Polly Peter Pan. I drafted a very simple collar that only runs across the front so no fiddly bits at the back, which made it a little easier for me as I am no pro in drafting anything but I was quite pleased and love the fun contrasting fabrics (thank you Charlotte) 

Here is the Polly Pocket. Firstly these awesome fabrics are from Crafty Creatives, love them and so perfect for this pattern as the front was cut from just one fat quarter so shows you don't need much fabric at all. The fun little addition here is this velvety pocket. Not really for anything, except maybe a lip balm but looks great and sooo easy to put together, you just need to add a folded piece of fabric sandwiched between the two side seams. Could not be easier and adds a little something different. 

Here is the Polly Heart, I spent my day today with Elisalex from By Hand London making this top, awesome day!. Rachael Boon at the girl who makes things posted a fabulous heart shaped Polly Top. I think Rachael definitely got the heart shape spot on, I need to have another go at this one and hopefully get that point in the middle a lot better. It was pretty tricky. Check out Elisalex's on the blog. 

And here we get to the final creation. My favourite project yet. It's the Polly Jacket. I had a lot of fun making this jacket and really feel like I pushed my skills. I began by taking the Polly Top pattern and drafted facing, lining and some sleeves. It was super hard and I definitely didn't get it completely right but I was so proud to have worked out what I needed to adapt and how to add all the new seam allowances etc. Very exciting stuff. 

These rather adorable buttons are a combination of hand made and a free gift from Mollie Makes magazine. The two pink buttons at the top, from Mollie Makes I thought were perfect for the blue tweed. Just the right amount of cute! The other buttons I covered myself using a button kit from some lovely family friends (thanks guys). 

I had to show off the inside just a little, as I am quite proud, I think it looks very profesh!! Super happy! I have worn my Polly Jacket once already and it rained so that wasn't good but it was very comfy and always a good sign when I wear something that soon. I can't wait to wear it again and show it off to the world. 

A whole year of creating and experimenting and most of all learning has brought me here, with a jacket I hope everyone likes as much as I do and maybe inspires you to play around with your own patterns. You can create so much with just a little imagination. This brings me on to a chat about The Next Fifty Two!!. Yes that's right people I am planning the next adventure, with a little time off of course. I would like to challenge myself to create 4 variations from 13 different patterns. Hoping my maths are right that will give me 52 creations. I love playing around with patterns but really need to improve my drafting skills and adapting patterns to fit different shapes and really just learn as much as I can. I am not sure yet when I will begin this second adventure, however until then I will still be sewing and will share my creations with you all. I hope you keep reading and until next time Happy Stitching! 

Week Fifty One

Ahhhhhh its week fifty one! can you believe it. I can't so there we go. I have to say this challenge hasn't been easy and the last few weeks have probably been the most busy so the thought that my year is coming to an end has very mixed emotions. Yes a part of me is looking forward to a rest but the majority of me can't wait to start all over again.

Anyways I will save all of this soppy chat for the last post and on to week fifty one's creation. I realised a couple of weeks ago that I haven't ever made a shirt!!! shock horror. I don't think anyway, I can't really remember them all. I had to sneak in a shirt at some point and what better time than now. However there is a shirt and then there is a shirt dress and well if the choice was up to me, which funnily enough it was, it had to be a shirt dress and tadarr!!!

Deer and Doe are a French pattern company that are super stylish! I have been holding on to this pattern for a really long time now and just hadn't found the right materials or time. As soon as I saw this dark green material I thought it would be great for an autumny, wintery version of this dress. I felt like I needed to make it a little more girly and just a little softer so I added this rather fun granny chic floral silky fabric for the collar, sleeves and fun bow at the back. I think it achieves the slightly softer look I was going for. 

I was very pleased to feel a lot more confident going in to this creation. Not too long ago I  would have very much panicked over the many buttons and the pleats in the sleeves (sleeves in general to be honest) also this was my very first shirt collar that was attached to a shirt!!. Having made a few separate collars, I definitely felt a lot more confident tackling this one. All in all I am super pleased with the dress and will hopefully (if I can afford it) purchase a couple more Deer and Doe patterns in the future. 

So there we go 51 creations completed and only one more day left in this very exciting adventure and one more creation to make (yes I am cutting it fine) I hope everyone is as interested as I am in what it will be (as I am not totally sure yet) so stay tuned! 

Happy stitching everyone!!!

Week Fifty! - Burda Madness

We have reached the fiftieth week!! well it was last week as I am a little behind on my blogging. Not much of a shock there as it is no lie that writing about my creations hasn't been easy. However the sewing does come a little easier although this one almost had me stumped with frustration. 

As the weeks count down I have been trying to focus on skills or techniques that I haven't yet tried. One technique is the madness of Burda magazine patterns. Until now I have been too overwhelmed by the layout of the patterns to give them a go but I thought I had to before the year was up. This is where we came to for week fifties creation.  

As you can see this particular Burda mag is in Italian. I had struggled to find Burda mags in a normal newsagent in England but they are everywhere over Europe so I picked one up while on holiday back in May. I guess I thought it didn't really matter about the language I didn't understand as I don't really read instructions anyway ha lol! Anyway I found a British one a few weeks ago so it was easier to navigate round with a reference. 

I saw this cute top pattern and wanted to make it since the day I bought the mag so definitely a great one to start off with. I thought the simplicity would also be great to help me get to grips with this Burda madness. 

If anyone out there doesn't know what I mean about this madness I speak of here it is. Can you imagine anything more daunting! ahhhh! Its a top not the blueprints for the white house! hehe! 

Well I overcame my fear, traced everything well with a little help of some serious coloured pen outlines. I got this very cute plant pot fabric from a shop close to home in Yorkshire. A reason to cross the path in Lancashire to go to the near by shop in Colne (I forget the name) but it's awesome. I believe it was about £6pm and I didn't need to by much so combined with some pale cream lining I already had it was quite an inexpensive piece to make.  

I chose not to add the front pocket as I thought with the plant pot pattern it would get a little too crazy. However teamed with some pretty cute, shiny buttons I feel very pleased with this creation. Once the pattern was traced and cut out it came together very easily. I think I could jump right back into another Burda pattern with a little more confidence next time. 

Happy stitching peeps. 

Week Forty Nine - The show stopper

Number four on the final countdown and I have gone for a show stopper. I really wanted to make a truly fabulous dress and I know this will be different for everyone and for me, as soon as I saw this dress pattern from Named Clothing I loved it so much I had to make it. 

Named Clothing are a new pattern company from Finland founded by sisters Saara and Laura Huhta. There style and patterns are super sleek and cool! I don't often see a pattern and want to copy it completely. I like to look for alterations or a way to create a totally different feel to make it unique and my own. However when I saw this pattern I wanted the exact same dress as the model is wearing in the picture. 

The pattern is very simple and therefore I feel quite a good one for altering and adapting. Hopefully many different styles can come from it. Once purchased the patterns are emailed over for home printing, which is great because you can print it as many times as you need. You then have to trace over your size. I feel this is quite a bit of work to do for the prices, however I was totally sucked in by this brands style that I went with it. 

The fabric I used was a really soft black knit at a fabulous price of £3.5 pm! bargain! 

The definite selling point of the dress is the back. I love backless dresses! When you don't have a lot of cleavage like myself, it's quite nice sometimes to show off a little skin somewhere else. I almost think this pattern could plunge a little lower! hmm we will see! Or maybe could be replaced with lace! All for next time. Stay tuned for the second Named Clothing pattern I purchased, which will feature in a few weeks for my final creation. Happy stitching everyone!