Spring Going Out - pink jacket finally finished!

I’ve spent the whole day fighting with my sewing machine - turns out that it doesn’t like any thread thicker than the norm!.. & I’ve been trying to top stitch.

Anyway all finished now - day off tomorrow :)

 

Great Day Shopping

I’m beginning to think that I shop on autopilot, today I’ve discovered a great new range of clothes in my local Jigsaw.

If any of you haven’t seen they’re definitely worth having a look at, while they’re not cheap they are the kind of clothes you can buy & they will remain timeless items in your wardrobe & you will still be wearing in ten years time (with a modern hint of Jack Wills).

The range is called Cabbages and Roses - the link is below (& now in my “Links to sites I like” section).

http://www.cabbagesandroses.com/

Thank you v much Zoe for my enlightening shopping experience today (because as someone who never shops in Jigsaw I would never have found C&R).

The Sales - new fabrics etc

Just like everyone else I’ve been out spending my money in the sales today.

I’ve bought a wonderful fabric for a going out dress/ top & skirt (the fabric was half price!), some bright pink netting for under skirts, along with dark grey embroidery thread & white beads (which I have already have these beads in grey & used them on the logo of track pants - see blog for Monday 27^th December).

Its going to be a busy day tomorrow finishing off the little flowery cardy & the pink jacket - need to get some sleep but am still going to try to stay up for the cricket! ;)

Spring Work wear - shirt / cardy

Today again (like yesterday) I want a quick sewing fix & have made a lightweight shirt/ cardigan which will be able to be worn over a little t-shirt or vest top with grey trousers or skirt.



I got a great book over Christmas “The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques by Lynda Maynard”, looking through it today I’ve seen that I can edge the lightweight fabric of this shirt/ cardy with ribbon. I’ve found that I already have this beautiful fern green ribbon which will work perfectly.

After I’ve added the ribbon I’m going to add clear poppers so that the shirt/ cardy can be fastened at the front but hopefully the fabric won’t be weighted down when left unfastened.

Tomorrow in addition to putting the ribbon on this I’m going to top stitch the pink jacket with some light coloured cotton, this will give the jacket a clean edge.

Busy day tomorrow!…

Blogging - strangely addictive!

I just have to mention that since I started my blog I don’t seem to have a free moment.

Even if sitting in a state of silence in a quiet room, ideas whiz, fly, crash & bounce around my inspired brain, it is a wonderful feeling.

…& strangely addictive!

Spring Casual - grey track pants

Today I wanted to make something quick, recently it's felt like everything I've made has taken a long time with not much to show for it. So I’ve cut & sewn a pair of track pants out of the fleecy fabric I bought back on 22nd December.

The track pants have a small pocket on the back with a logo I’ve made in the last few weeks. Not a very exciting addition to my wardrobe but I have a feeling that it will be a favourite as they will keep my legs very warm!

Spring Going Out - the pink jacket nearly ready to wear

I’ve been really busy with the Spring Going Out pink jacket over the last few days, I’ve added beads, tidied up the seams, sewn the lining & put in shoulder pads. I just need to finish the sleeves & hem & its ready to wear.

I really love my new jacket, I want to wear it on now & I can’t wait till Spring, never thought I would get this “new clothes buzz” from something I’ve made myself!

The Mad Men dress

I’ve recently started watching the first series of Mad Men on dvd, I love the clothes & when I saw this pattern I had to buy it.

I'm going to use one of the grey fabrics I’ve recently bought to make one of these dresses in the next few weeks.

New Fabric!

I’ve bought some new fabric! I will use this to make casual trousers (track suit bottoms), a dress, jacket & skirt/ trousers. All the fabrics are various shades of grey but can be dressed up with some other colours.

I’ve been struggling to find brightly coloured “spring” type colours”, I think that this is because we’re still in Winter (or perhaps I just don't like colour..)! Here’s hoping the New Year brings some brights out on to the shop floor!

Spring Sleep wear - finally finishing off

I haven’t told you that I’d struggled with finishing off the spring sleep wear t-shirts, I felt that the fabric was too thin to sew on the sewing machine without risking tearing it.

So I’ve decided to go down the hand stitching route, while this will be time consuming I think it will give a better result & will mean that I don’t ruin what I already have.

I’m going to stitch each with embroidery thread - see the pictures below.

Spring Going Out - decoration for the pink jacket

I decided to make the pink jacket in exactly the same style as the blue jacket because I didn’t have enough fabric to make the jacket in the pattern I'd previously looked at (see Thurs 9th Dec).

I’ve sewn together the body of the jacket & just have to add the collar. I’m going to add little pink beads to this jacket & top stitch in pink thread - see pictures below.

Snow stopped new fabric shopping today!

I was going fabric shopping today, I cleared the car of snow but then couldn't drive out of my parking spot.

Please find to the right of this post the photos I took this morning of Richmond in the snow.

I'm now digging into the depths of my old fabric collection for some inspiration!... will let you know how I get on!

Spring Going Out - cutting, pinning & sewing the pink jacket & something for the Boys!

I’ve suddenly realised that there are a few guys might be bored of sewing!  So I’ve put together some funny sporty bits for you: 　

*Our European Tour boys out in the desert … Clay pigeon shooting meets golf!
http://www.youtube.com/user/Everyshotimaginable

*A GMac Classic… Sports Personality of the Year this Sunday - vote for GMac a golfer with a personality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA2hUK7DCas

*Swanny’s Ashes Video Diary - Episode 5... He is also after Sports Personality vote & he gets mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXGLew0tWM0  

 For those of you interested in my sewing I’ve cut, pinned & sewn the Spring Going Out pink jacket - pictures below.

Lastly I’ve slightly changed the layout of the blog to make it easier to follow my progress.

When you click on the text "What do I have to make for Spring 2011?" you can see the list of clothes that I'm planning on making & when you click on the text "What have I made so far for Spring 2011?" you can see what I've made so far.

As always - pleased to hear any comments.

Spring Going Out - pattern for the pink jacket

I might use this pattern for the pink jacket.

I’ve already made a rather crazy flowery jacket using this pattern which you can see below (in its unfinished state - must get this finished before Christmas!) 

But then looking at the above photo - perhaps I would be best with a little tight fitting jacket in pink!??!

Spring Going Out - the pink jacket!

For my next item of clothing I’m going to go PINK!

This inspiration for this has come from going to see Legally Blonde the Musical at the Savoy Theatre on Monday night, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much pink on stage at one time!

I’ve found some fabrics that I’ve had for a while… this will be for Spring going out wear (in replacement of a cardigan I’ve got on my list) to dress up simple jeans & a t-shirt.

I’m going to go a bit mad with this item - bring on pink, beads & fun!

Spring Work wear - the blue jacket is finished!

Today I’ve finished off one of the three jumpers/ jackets I’m producing for the Spring work wear collection, it’s a blue jacket with white lining.

I’ve held back from putting any beading on it as its work wear so it will be able to be worn with patterns/ flowers.

What do you think?

Spring Work wear - the blue jacket sewing together

Over the weekend I’ve sewn most of the blue jacket together & have put in a white lining.

I’ve hit a wall tonight - can’t work out how to sew the lining in the sleeves - I’ve done it before but its too late now on Sunday night for my brain to work. So just going to update the blog with pictures of where I’ve got to.

Some time this week will sit down & finish this all off, I'm thinking might add some clear beads to areas of the jacket - but will sleep on this idea.

Spring Work wear - the blue jacket cutting out

I’ve started on one of the jackets for my spring wardrobe, just cut the fabric (minus the sleeves).

Might go long or short with the sleeves, I'm going to wait to see how the body of the jacket looks when its made up, the fabric is a really bright colour, might be best to go for ¾ length sleeves.

Packaging

One thing I am going to miss now I’m making my own clothes is packaging.

I’ve posted some pictures of bags I would proudly walk down any high street with.

Spring Sleep wear - the bows

The 5 bows on the 5 t-shirts are finished, they’ve taken some time but I like them.

Will leave the final finishing off of the t-shirts to the weekend when I can sew in natural light.

Spring Sleep wear - tonight!

Was meant to be going out tonight but the weather has ruined plans.

So will be sewing tonight... need to get t-shirts finished asap as I want to finish the jacket I’ve been working on for a few weeks over the weekend, it is very flowery & very Spring!

Spring Work wear - I’ve been looking for Spring fabrics

I’ve found this fabric in two bright colours & think that both would make lovely jackets for the Spring. I also want to get some yellow into my clothing at some point even though I’ve never really liked the colour I think this is a great time to experiment!

What do you think of the colours? I think both would go well with a bright yellow skirt or dress.

Spring Sleep wear - today I have been experimenting with decoration

I’ve used ribbon & embroidery thread to put a bow on the shoulder of one of the t-shits, this is quite time consuming but easy to do in front of the telly!

Spring Sleep wear - what have I been doing for the last few days?

I have cut & sewn the main parts of the 5 t-shirts for the Spring Sleep wear collection over the last few days.  I’m quite happy with the results & they fit great!

Just have final finishing touches to do hems & decoration.

Spring Sleep wear - producing a simple pattern for t-shirts

For Spring sleep wear I have to produce 5x t-shirts & 5x bottoms.

I am going to start by producing 5 simple t-shirts.

As in the past with t-shirt type projects I’ve chosen t-shirts that have fitted me well & cut them up.

With this long sleeve t-shirt I cut away the seams leaving with just the “worn part” of the fabric, but before I cut up I mark on the fabric with stitches where the various pieces match up (& where there are gathers) so its easier to reproduce with the new fabric.

See the below pictures - before cutting & after cutting.

The grey thread on the sleeve matches up with the grey thread on the front &  back sections of the t-shirt (the extra grey thread shows that this is the back) The orange thread is on the seam of the front & back of the body of the t-shirt.

Let me know if this doesn't make sense! 

Spring Sleep wear - can't just be grey (just looked in my wardrobe... a sea of grey!)

I need to add some colour to my Spring sleep wear. I am thinking ribbons... what do you think? See below colours...

Need to start to think about patterns - thinking shorts & long sleeve t-shirts - will start thinking about this tomorrow.

Spring Sleep wear - research & fabric

Sleep wear can be trend less, it does however have to be very comfortable & for Spring it need to be warm.

At the moment I like Jack Wills & Abercrombie & Fitch stylie (A&C especially after my NY visit - or was it just because they made us queue I got soooo excited about their clothing?!?).

I have some rather nice grey thermal type fabric which I was thinking I could tart up with the bows & velvet ribbons currently being use by the above two lovely fashion houses!

Note: I have said I DON'T want to look like everyone else, however I want to remain "on trend" & not out on a limb with my clothing! As I am taking the time & effort to make my own clothes rest assured that I will

NOT want to look like I am wearing clothes from an international brand!

Thermal cloth...

What do you think? Comments below please :)

The plan

For each season & each set of clothes I will need to do the following:
(1) Choose a name for the set of clothes (label).
(2) Research & find out what is "on trend".
(3) Decide how many clothes & what types of clothing I will need (already done for Spring).
(4) Find some patterns to make the clothes from.
(5) Choose some colours (so the clothes go together!).
(6) Buy some fabric (plus ribbons, thread etc).
(7) Make cut the patterns & make the clothes.
(8) Take some pictures so you can see the final product!

& then hopefully you will give me some feedback :)

Today I start to seriously think about what I am to do

So I can work through the project in an organised way, I have divided 2011 into the 4 seasons.

Spring will be the first season I will make clothes for which means I now have 3 months to make clothes for this Spring.

I believe I will need the following sets of clothes:
Sleep wear:
5x t-shirts
5x bottoms (shorts/ long track pants)

Casual:
5x t-shirts
3x track pants
3x sweat tops

Work wear:
2x dresses
4x trousers/ skirts
4x tops (long & short sleeve)
3x jumpers/ jackets

Golf wear:
2x skirts
3x trousers
3x tops (long sleeve)
2x tops (short sleeve)
3x jumpers/ fleeces
　
Going out:
1x dressy dress
1x dress
1x skirt
3x tops
2x cardigans
(jeans might need to be bought or use what currently have)

Outer wear:
1x long coat
1x jacket

This is what I've made so far

Today I've uploaded a slideshow of photos of the clothes I've already made.

Please let me know what you think of them (comments box below).

In November I got inspired

I have just got back from New York & have seen the movie Julie & Julia which is part set in New York & have become inspired to blog.

I didn't really know much about blogging but could relate my love of making clothes to Julie's love of cookery and like Julie I decided to blog about something I love!

　
PS - I've uploaded a slideshow of my photos from NY on the right hand side of this blog.

Where did the "Capsule Wardrobe Project" idea come from?

I love clothes shopping, but I have got soooo tired of looking the same as everyone else.

In 2008 I went on a 10 day pattern cutting course at the London College of Fashion and in 2009 I went on a 10 day tailoring course at St Martins College of Fashion.

Finally in 2009 I started making my own clothes.
　

Link to London College of Fashion: http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/
Link to Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design: http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/