Seeing stars - Enid sweater

How's your week going? To be honest, mine could've been better so far, but thankfully the thing that's made everything less than ideal (a particularly annoying work project) is now all done and dusted so I've spent tonight destressing by catching up on some blog reading and now I have my latest project to share with you - it's my second version of the Jennifer Lauren Enid sweater...

When I posted my first Enid, I mentioned that I'd seen some sweatshirt fabric that I really liked - this is it! I loved this starry sweatshirting as soon as I saw it on My Fabrics, and it didn't disappoint when it arrived. It feels lovely and the colour is gorgeous, plus I love stars so I was always going to be a fan of this one. I'm also glad I got it when I did because it seems to be sold out now, but they have lots of other sweatshirt material if you're after some. The ribbing is also from My Fabrics - they have lots of different colours of ribbing and both this black one and the pink I used for Enid number one were really nice quality.

As I mentioned when I was talking about my wearable muslin, this time I lengthened the bodice by an inch and that's made it just the right length for a cropped sweater. My first version is pretty much fine, but it's just a teeny bit on the short side and I feel like I end up pulling it down as soon as I move. The extra inch on this version makes all the difference and means that the sweater is still a nice cropped length but doesn't leave me at risk of skin being exposed around my waist! Lengthening bodices is a standard adjustment for me and I probably should have just done it first time around. Never mind, it's all sorted now.

Apart from that, I didn't change anything from my first version (other than succeeding in using my iron properly and not leaving marks on the fabric!) and there's not much else to say. I love the shape of the Enid sweater and it looks great worn with full skirts. The instructions are really thorough and clear, especially for the more complicated steps such as attaching the ribbing round the neckline, so I think most people would be able to sew up an Enid fairly happily, even if you don't have masses of experience sewing knits - I'm still a relative knit newbie and I didn't have any problems.

So this is another great top to add to my wardrobe, and I plan to follow it with the square necked version of Enid at some point, but maybe not till next autumn/winter. At the moment I'm starting to feel like I've made lots of good wardrobe staple/basic/sensible things since the start of the year, which is all well and good and I'm happy with how they've all turned out and integrated into my daily wardrobe, but I'm starting to feel an itch to make a pretty and slightly frivolous dress. Does anyone else get that when you've been focussing on basics for a while? I'm feeling an Emery coming on...

Sewaholic Granville Shirt

At the start of the year, I got the urge to sew a shirt. I'm not quite sure where this urge emerged from as I don't wear a massive number of shirts, but emerge it did! It's entirely possible that I was just swayed by the massive number of Grainline Archers that are all over the sewing blogging world. So why didn't I just take the cue from my inspiration and sew an Archer? I was almost ready to do just that, but I had a niggling feeling that actually it might not be the one for me and that I'd prefer a slightly more fitted style. As if by magic, the precise style I was thinking of suddenly appeared when the Sewaholic Granville shirt was launched - Tasia must have read my mind!

I knew I had a weekend on the horizon with no major plans, and that to me always equals a sewing weekend, and I thought that it would be a good opportunity to get my teeth stuck into a slightly more involved sewing project so I snapped up the pattern and got planning!

For the fabric, I chose a white Swiss dot cotton lawn from Fabric Godmother. After all, what could be more classic than a crisp white shirt? Plus because it's a Swiss dot, it's plain and simple but with an added touch of subtle prettiness. The fabric is really soft and feels great to wear, and was a joy to work with. As you can probably tell from the fact that you can sort of see my skirt through the shirt in these photos, it is pretty sheer but wearing a nude-coloured camisole underneath keeps things decent.

When I got down to sewing, almost everything went really smoothly. While you do need to be accurate with any kind of sewing, I think shirtmaking requires an even greater level of precision if you want a nice end result, but other than that there's nothing that's scarily complicated about it. As you'd expect with a Sewaholic pattern, the instructions were clear and easy to follow. As it's an intermediate pattern, they do assume a certain level of knowledge and don't hold your hand and walk you through everything in baby steps, but they have just the right level of detail.

The only bit I found a bit fiddly was the sleeve placket, and that wasn't because the instructions weren't clear but just because you have to press quite small bits of material in a quite exact manner (which I found a little tricky to do without burning my fingers) - but I got there in the end! I'd never sewn a tower placket before so I'm pleased that they turned out neatly.

Another new technique I tried out for the first time here was flat felled seams, which I used for all of the seams on my Granville. I don't know why, but I'd been expecting there to be something really complicated about flat felled seams, but there really isn't! Yes, it does take a bit of extra time but I think it's definitely worth it for the lovely inside finish that you get (I tried to get a photo, but it's really hard to see with the white fabric so you'll just have to take my word for it!). I'm particularly glad that the insides of this shirt look nice, because I think it could make a great cover-up in warm weather worn open over a summer dress with the sleeves rolled up. I'll definitely be testing that theory later in the year anyway. For now, it'll mainly be worn more like this...

The slimmer fit of the Granville means that it's nice for layering without adding too much bulk, which is good because one of my main reasons for making a shirt like this was to be able to wear it under little knitted tank tops (another reason why I don't mind the fabric being slightly sheer). Thankfully for me it looks just like I hoped it would, so mission accomplished!

In terms of size, I made a straight size 14 and it fits well straight out of the packet (part of the reason why I love Sewaholic patterns - they always seem to fit me nicely!). The only thing I might change next time would be the sleeve length. They're pretty much fine as they are, especially when I move my arms, but if I'm just standing with my arms down they do seem a touch long. I suspect this was probably more of an issue for taking blog photos than it will be in daily life so it's all good! I thought it was worth mentioning though because I'm about 5 ft 9, and I don't think I have disproportionately short arms, so some people may need to shorten them.

All in all, I'm really happy with how my Granville turned out, in terms of how it looks but even more so in terms of the finish. I'm so glad I took the time to do the flat felled seams - I was cursing myself for making that decision in the middle of the project when things seemed to be taking ages, but it was definitely worth the extra time and I'd do the same for any possible future Granvilles (although I also want to try out Sewaholic's other new pattern, the Oakridge, so that will probably take precedence over more Granvilles at the moment). If you're thinking of sewing a shirt, I'd definitely recommend the Granville - it's a lovely pattern with great instructions. Give it a go!

Upcycling a jumper into a skirt

For my birthday just before Christmas, a group of lovely friends, who know me and my crafty ways very well, clubbed together and got me a subscription to Mollie Makes. The first issue that they got me (issue 48) included lots of pretty projects, but one thing that really caught my eye was an upcycling project from Rethink Remake Relove to refashion a jumper into a skirt. I was feeling in need of a simple project and the skirt looked great so I had to give it a go!

All you needed was basic sewing supplies, 5cm elastic (which I had left over from making belts) and an old jumper. Now, I quite like all of my jumpers and I wasn't sure that many women's jumpers would give me a skirt with enough room for my hips, so I hit the men's jumper sections of the local charity shops and, after a bit of hunting, found this...

I liked the colour, I thought the cables would provide an interesting detail, it definitely gave me enough material to work with, it looked like it had never been worn and it was only £3.50 - decision made!

The project was really simple - you just remove the jumper arms, cut out your skirt shape from the front and back body pieces, sew the side seams and attach the elastic at the waist, and the ribbing round the bottom of the jumper means there's no need for hemming. I did deviate slightly from the instructions in the magazine by folding the top of the skirt over to make a casing for the elastic instead of just stitching it on. Even with the extra time it took to thread the elastic through the casing it was still a really quick project - the longest part of the process was probably the time I took dithering about precisely how long I wanted the skirt! If you want more details and don't have a copy of Mollie Makes, there are plenty of tutorials online for similar skirts (such as this one from My Poppet and this one from Pearls & Scissors).

I really love how the skirt turned out. Having a more fitted skirt is a bit of a departure from my usual style, but it's good to be different every now and then, and this has to be one of the comfiest skirts ever! It's the kind of thing that feels like you're wearing pyjamas it's that comfy. Plus as it's made from a jumper it's obviously nice and warm for the colder weather.

I'm not sure whether it'll be my most hard-wearing creation (unlike my Malu jacket which I'm wearing here - I've worn it so much this winter!) because I think the ribbing around the hem might stretch out a bit with the amount of walking I tend to do, but hopefully I'll be proved wrong. Even if it doesn't last that long, I'd still definitely use this idea again and I'll be keeping an eye out for more jumpers as possible skirt candidates.

Are you inspired to cut up your old jumpers now? Personally, I'm on the look out for creative uses for the arms that I cut off the jumper - any suggestions?

Jennifer Lauren Enid Sweater - a very wearable muslin

One of my very vague sewing aims for this year is to try to sew some good basic wardrobe staples in addition to all the pretty dresses (because, let's face it, I'm always going to love sewing the pretty dresses and there's no point pretending otherwise!), which is why the Jennifer Lauren Enid sweater went to the top of my 'to sew' list as soon as it was released late last year. After all, a fitted cropped sweater is just what a lover of full skirts needs to keep her cosy at this time of year!

The pattern is designed to be used with sweatshirt fabric, and I'd spotted some that I really loved but wanted to make a test version first to be sure that the fit was OK and to get used to sweatshirt fabric as I'd never sewn with it before. I picked the navy sweatshirting up for £5 a metre at Fabricland in Bristol, and as it wasn't super expensive and is more practical than pretty, I knew I wouldn't be heartbroken if this version didn't turn out completely right. Luckily for me, my wearable muslin has turned out to be very wearable indeed!

Based on my measurements, I made a straight size 14 without any adjustments, reasoning that the fit should be OK because it's the same size that I've just for my three versions of the Bronte top (1, 2, 3) and they all fit me nicely. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the length, and that was the main reason behind making the test version. The finished length in the instructions matched my shoulder to waist measurement so I decided to make Enid up according to the pattern. The length of my finished version seemed pretty much spot on when I tried it on, and it is essentially fine, but having now worn it a bit I would prefer it just a teeny bit longer so I'll add an inch or so to the length of my next version - it's not surprising that I need to do that because adding length to tops/bodices is a standard adjustment for me.

Enid was a really nice project to sew up. The PDF was easy to tape together - I really like the way Jen arranges her PDFs so that the individual pattern pieces print on separate groups of pages - it makes taping together so much easier. And once I got down to the sewing, the instructions were very thorough and perfectly clear, making the whole process pretty straightforward. The only slightly fiddly bit was attaching the ribbing at the neckline (on that note, I got the ribbing from myfabrics - it's really nice and they have a great range of colours, although I'd trust the pictures on the website more than the written colour descriptions. Mine was labelled purple, which it's definitely not, but it is exactly the same colour as the picture online). I did have to unpick and re-stitch the point of the V once, entirely due to my less than perfect stitching, but other than that I didn't have any problems at all - everything came together easily.

The sweatshirt fabric was also fairly easy to handle and sewed up nicely. The only exception being the fact that my brain temporarily went on holiday and forgot to change my iron temperature between pressing the ribbing (which could take a higher temperature) on its own and pressing once it was attached to the neckline. It was a stupid mistake, and it has left a bit of a shiny mark right on the front of the neckline, but thankfully for me it's only visible in certain lights and my Mum and sister only noticed it when I pointed it out to them, so it's not going to stop me wearing this version of Enid. I'll just have to remind myself to stop pointing out the imperfections to people! I'm not the only one that does that am I?!

All in all, I'm really glad I made this test version of the Enid pattern first. There are a couple of teeny little self-inflicted and fitting imperfections which I'll sort out next time, but they definitely won't stop me wearing this version.

As Enid is quite fitted and cropped, it looks great with full skirts/dresses and is flattering, but at the same time the sweatshirt fabric makes it so comfy and cosy (nice to be able to take outdoor blog photos at this time of year without ending up shivering!), so it's the best of both worlds. I'm now looking forward to sewing Enid number 2! Have you sewn an Enid yet? Or do you have any other good sweatshirt patterns to recommend?

A pair of warm jersey tops

Even if I've only seen the tiniest sprinkling of snow here in Bristol so far, it's still pretty chilly so the two projects that I have to show you today seem particularly appropriate for this weather because they're both made using lovely warm jersey from White Tree Fabrics. Pair that with the Bronte and Renfrew patterns, and I now have two great new tops to snuggle up and keep cosy in!

I started off with the Bronte top - I've made it twice before (here and here) and it's fast becoming a firm favourite pattern. It stitches up nice and quickly (I had this finished in an evening) and the neckline makes it a little bit different from a normal t-shirt without being any more complicated to make.

As with my previous versions, I made a size 14 with no alterations. Thankfully I managed to get through this incarnation of Bronte without nearly destroying it as I did last time, so the buttons are merely serving their purpose as intended in the pattern of holding down the shoulder overlap, instead of hiding a hole!

The buttons were actually the starting point of this project really. I love stars, so when I spotted these little pearly ones in my local haberdashery I knew I had to have some. I then dithered about what to use them for because I think the shape would make them annoying if they were functioning buttons that you needed to undo and do up all the time, but for this kind of fixed button, they're great. I wanted to use them on a plain fabric so they'd stand out, and the blue warm jersey seemed like a great match.

As well as the buttons, you can also see the fabric itself better here. The knits I've used in the past have been t-shirt type jerseys, but this is more like the kind of fabric that would be used for thin jumpers/sweaters. Unlike the other knits I've worked with, this fabric did shed a bit during cutting and sewing so I finished all of the seams with a zigzag stitch. Other than that, I treated it the same as other jerseys (prewashed on a normal 30 degree wash, seams using a narrow zigzag, and Bronte hems/topstitching with a twin needle) and that all seemed to work well and both of the tops have passed the initial wear test. The fabric definitely lives up to its name too - it's so nice and warm to wear.

So, with Bronte finished and looking pretty, I moved on to the Renfrew and some lovely wine coloured warm jersey. This is actually the first Renfrew I've sewn and I feel like I must be the last person in the sewing community to get around to making this pattern (I'm not am I? Please tell me there's someone else out there?)! I may be late to the party, but I'm glad I got there in the end and there'll be many more Renfrews in my future. After all with all the neckline and sleeve length options, you could make loads without even repeating the same combination.

As many people have said before me, it's a great pattern, the instructions are clear and easy to follow and I really like how the body and sleeve hems are finished with bands for a slightly different effect to the other patterns I've used and most RTW t-shirts. I can definitely see why Renfrew is a TNT pattern for so many people.

I love cowl neck tops (not least because you can hide in the cowl when you're not feeling very photogenic, which I definitely wasn't on this day!), so that was always going to be my first Renfrew neckline to try out, and pairing it with the long sleeves seemed like the obvious choice at this time of year.

I'm so pleased with how the top turned out it's definitely looser than the Bronte - my measurements are all pretty much exactly a 13 for the Renfrew (i.e. bang in the middle between a 12 and 14) so I erred on the side of caution and went for a 14. I possibly could have got away with a 12, but I like the looser fit, which combined with the fabric makes it feel more like a sweater than a t-shirt. Next time I make a Renfrew, I might go down to a 12 - or if I'm using a tighter-fitting fabric I might stick with a 14 and see how that goes.

All in all, I think these two tops are a very good start to my sewing for 2015 and I can see them both getting a lot of wear. I'm glad that I've finally got round to making a Renfrew so that, combined with Bronte, I've now got 2 t-shirt patterns I know I can trust. The fabric is lovely too, and I've just realised that it might make a really nice version of the Oslo cardigan from Seamwork, so I might have to treat myself to some more soon. I'm telling myself that it would be justified because I recently realised that moths had attacked one of my favourite cardis, so surely I need a replacement, don't I?!