Winslow culottes & Gable top

How's 2018 going for you so far? It's not been too shabby for me, and I've got a couple of projects finished and ready to share with you today. I decided to kick off this year's sewing with a couple of tried and tested patterns to get things off to a guaranteed good start. So here are my latest versions of the Jennifer Lauren Gable top and the Helen's Closet Winslow culottes...

I've really enjoyed wearing Gable tops and dresses this autumn/winter, which in part was prompted by spending a week wearing them for OWOP at the end of last year, and I knew that another one would definitely fit in well to my wardrobe. This one is made using some lovely Cotton and Steel jersey that I bought from Sew Me Sunshine. It's on the pricey side for my fabric buying budget, but sometimes it's worth splashing out for something that you know you're going to love sewing and wearing. 

Gable top worn with my Freja dress and a Pink Coat Club Seamstress pin

I haven't made any changes since I sewed my first Gable top, so all the details in that blog post still apply (I've just noticed that I said in that post that I might slim down the sleeves - I haven't subsequently felt any need to do that!).

Now onto the Winslow culottes (and I'm sorry, I had to cover the Gable top up with my purple cardigan - it was just too chilly without it!). My original cord Winslow culottes were a bit of an experiment, but happily that experiment had a very successful outcome and I wear them fairly frequently in autumn/winter. One of the main benefits being that culottes are much less prone to (although not always immune from!) blowing up in the wind than all my full skirts!

This version is sewn using some beautiful aqua babycord from SewLoco (a fairly new UK-based online fabric shop - check out the lovely fabrics that Lucy has available if you haven't already!).

I made a slight change to the pattern for this version of the Winslow culottes. After the problems I had with the invisible zip on my first cord Winslows, this time I decided to split the waistband piece into two (in the pattern, the waistband is folded over on itself to create the facing). I then cut the waistband itself in the babycord and cut the second waistband piece in some Tana lawn (left over from making my Vogue 9239 dress last summer) to use as the facing. 

Doing this reduced the bulk at the waistband seam, and meant that using an invisible zip was no problem. While there's nothing wrong with the regular zip I used in my navy culottes to get round the waistband bulk problem, I do prefer the look of the invisible zip that I've used here.

So all in all, I think I can safely say that this year's sewing has started successfully. I know that both my Gable top and my Winslow culottes will be worn a lot, and it's an added bonus that they look pretty good together! How's your sewing been going lately?

OWOP 2017: The Jennifer Lauren Gable Top/Dress

If you're part of the sewing community on Instagram, then you're probably well aware that One Week One Pattern, or OWOP, has been happening over the last week, this time hosted by Sheona of Sewisfaction.

Day 1 - Anchor print dress with a knitted cardi (blogged here)

For the uninitiated, it's a fairly simple challenge - you just pick a pattern and wear a version of it every day for a week. It could be all different versions or the same garment styled differently for 7 days (if you're better at not spilling things on yourself than I am!).

Day 2 - Gable top in Art Gallery jersey with my corduroy Winslow culottes, and my Turin cardigan

I had fun taking part in the OWOP a couple of years ago (when my hair was much shorter!), so I decided to sign up again. The obvious pattern for me to pick would have been the Emery dress; even discounting very summery versions, I've got enough that I could have worn a different one every day so the challenge would have been fairly easy. However, I decided that it would be more interesting to pick something different so I went with the Jennifer Lauren Gable top and dress.

Blue ponte Gable dress with beads, brooch and very red tights!

I really love the Gable top/dress at this time of year - as it's a knit pattern it's super comfy to wear, and, while I know some people aren't fans of the fairly high slash neckline, I find that it helps to make me feel cosier than patterns with lower necks. Plus it also gave me the benefit of having both tops and dresses to play with over the week.

Pink Gable top, with a denim Veronika skirt and teal cardigan

Gable is also a simple pattern to sew, which meant that I had time to squeeze in a new version (the navy anchor print dress I wore on days 1 and 6) to add to my collection before OWOP started. If you're interested in more of my thoughts on the pattern itself, I blogged about my first Gable top here, and my blue ponte Gable dress here.

Gable top with my Freja dress

I had four Gables at my disposal - 2 dresses and 2 tops - and I found it really easy to wear one of them every day for the week. That's definitely helped by the fact that 3 of them are shades of blue, which is pretty much a neutral colour in my wardrobe so there were plenty of options for me when it came to putting an outfit together every morning.

Anchor print dress with my Toaster sweater

As it's been on the chilly side (by the standards of southern England anyway!) this week, so I was glad to be wearing knit garments (they just always seem warmer to me), and to be able to combine them with my knitted cardigans, or my crochet shawl on the last day.

Blue ponte Gable dress with my crochet flowers shawl

I really enjoyed participating in OWOP again this year. Putting on one of my Gables every morning didn't feel like too much of a constraint, and it didn't get boring - in some ways it actually make getting dressed easier because I couldn't be indecisive! I definitely don't think these four versions of the Gable are the last ones you'll see from me either - there's room for more of both the top and dress versions in my wardrobe. It's also been really interesting to take part in the challenge on Instagram and to see how other people have styled the various patterns that they chose. Thanks to all the sponsors, and of course an even bigger thank you to Sheona of Sewisfaction for hosting OWOP this year.

Jennifer Lauren Gable Top

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to win a giveaway in Simply Sewing magazine and part of my prize was a length of lovely Art Gallery jersey. I already had plenty of summer sewing projects on my agenda when it arrived, so I put it back to wait for future plans. A little while later, Jennifer Lauren released the Gable top and I matched the two of them up in my head as one of the first projects on my autumn sewing list.

The Gable is a knit top with a slash neckline, a long-line body and three different sleeve options - clearly here I used the long sleeves.

Sewing the Gable top was quick and really straightforward. The instructions and diagrams are really clear. It's rated as being for confident beginners upwards and I'd say that's right. It would probably be a good beginner knit project because I think that the way the neckline is finished (turning under and top stitching all the way from one shoulder to the other) is easier than using bands.

I did use the option suggested in the instructions of finishing the neckline as soon as you've sewn the shoulder seams rather than later in the sewing process, when you can try the top on and adjust the neckline according to your preference. I've had slash neck tops in the past so I was confident that I would like it, and finishing the neckline earlier seemed like it would be easier to me.

I made a straight size 14 and I'm pleased with how the fit turned out. It's slightly looser fitting than some of my t-shirts, but it's perfectly fitted enough for my liking. If I were to change anything, I might possibly think about slimming the arms down slightly for a future version, but they're not too baggy so I might not even do that.

It is described as being longline, and it definitely is an inch or two longer than most of my other t-shirts. That's quite a nice feature for this time of year because it comes down right to my hips, which helps keep my middle warmer!

The Art Gallery jersey was brilliant to work with. I've often admired their knits from afar, but so far haven't actually got round to buying any. It's not the cheapest of fabrics, but I'm a firm believer that it's worth paying for quality so it was nice to win this fabric so I could test the fabric out and see what it's like. As I said, it was great to sew and it feels lovely to wear as well. I'll definitely be investing in more Art Gallery jersey in the future!

I made the top with the intention of wearing it, as I am above, with my denim Lilou pinafore dress. It's a great for pairing with pinafores because the simple slash neckline will work nicely with different pinafore necklines. Hardly surprising really given than it was designed to complement Jen's Ivy pinafore.

Speaking of which, has anyone tried sewing an Ivy pinafore yet? I'm tempted by the tent dress version because it looks so comfy and cosy, but it's a pretty different silhouette for me so I'd love to hear if anyone's got any thoughts about it!

I'm calling this Gable top a definite success - it was great to sew, it's just what I wanted for wearing with pinafores, it's obviously super comfy to wear and, as an added bonus, I didn't even have to pay for the fabric! You can't beat that really, can you?!