Embroidered Hey June Sheridan Sweater

Over the last year or so I've been enjoying dabbling in a bit of embroidery. I've made a few pieces that I'm planning on turning into a wall of hoop art, but with my love of sewing it was only a matter of time before I gave embroidering clothes a try, wasn't it?

I've been considering what I could try for a while, but then Love Embroidery magazine solved the problem for me. As soon as I saw the embroidered sweatshirt on the cover of their issue 12 (available to buy here), I knew I had to give it a try. The lovely floral design by Jenny Billingham of Flynn & Mabel is just my cup of tea!

I considered whether I had anything in my wardrobe already that I could use, but I only have one or two plain sweatshirts and I wanted to keep them plain so they're more neutral. My favourite sweatshirt that I've made is the Hey June Sheridan sweater so that seemed like the best bet to use. If you're interested, you can read my review of the Sheridan sweater here.

I had a look around for some suitable fabric in a blue or turquoise colour (which seemed like the best options to complement the floral design), and in the end settled on a pale blue lightweight sweatshirt jersey from Plush Addict.

Once the sweater was finished, I then started to consider the embroidery. Having never embroidered on clothing before, I wasn't entirely sure what the best stabilisers to use would be. I then saw a recommendation for DMC Magic Paper (if you're in the UK, I got mine from Wool Warehouse) on Instagram (I can't remember who it was from now), so I decided to give that a try. 

It's really easy to use - you just draw your design onto the paper, peel off the backing and stick it straight to your garment. Once you've finished stitching, the stabiliser can be dissolved in water. Although I will say that it took longer than it was meant to for my stabiliser to dissolve, and having worn the sweatshirt I think there might still be a bit of residue there.

When I came to transfer the pattern, I realised that the space between the neckline and shoulder seams is obviously much narrower on my Sheridan sweater than on the sweatshirt used for the magazine sample so I had to adjust/omit a couple of small details on one side in order to make it fit.

As for the colours, mine aren't quite the same as recommended in the pattern. I'm lucky enough to have quite a plentiful supply of embroidery thread that used to belong to an auntie who was no longer using it so I used the closest equivalents to the pattern from what I had available.

I really enjoyed embroidering the pattern - it was fun to see the flowers and foliage gradually emerge stitch by stitch. All of the stitches were ones I've used before so it was fairly relaxing, although I did find that I had to restrict myself to short periods working on the embroidery because the weight of the sweater and the thickness of the fabric made my wrists hurt a bit if I worked on it for too long.

I'm really pleased with the finished sweater. There's room for improvement in my embroidery, but I think it looks good from a distance and most people won't inspect it in as much detail or be as critical about it as I would! I'll definitely be trying embroidering on clothes again in the future - have you ever given it a try?

Peppermint Loungewear Set Sewing Pattern Review

Recently I had a big sort out of my fabric and uncovered a few gems that I'd packed away in a bag and slightly forgotten about, including this pink and white checkerboard print. I decided that I should get it sewn up and chose to try out a new-to-me pattern - the Peppermint Loungewear Set.

If you haven't come across Peppermint magazine before, it's an Australian quarterly publication that focuses on "style, sustainability and substance". Most importantly for us sewists, they also have a whole library of sewing patterns that are free to download or you have the option of making a voluntary donation.

The magazine works with different pattern-makers, and the Loungewear Set that I made was designed by Common Stitch. The set is made up of a short-sleeved drop shoulder top with a high-low hem, and a pair of relaxed-fit cropped trousers with pockets. It's available in hip sizes from 34" to 52".

The pattern is quite straightforward to sew. I'd say the instructions are clear and easy to follow, but they maybe don't hold your hand quite as much as some independent pattern companies would. That said, I didn't have any trouble sewing up the set. 

I like the fact that the pattern has a couple of details that make it a bit different from other pyjamas/loungewear. The high-low hem on the top is a nice feature and results in an interesting shape, and of course pockets in the trousers are always going to be a welcome addition! I also liked the fact that that the instructions have you top-stitch the neckline facing down - it gives a clean finish to the top.

As you'd expect with pyjamas, the sizing is generous and there's plenty of wearing ease built into the pattern. I'd say the fit on the top is particularly oversized so you might want to have a look at the finished garment measurements to decide quite how big you want it. I went down two sizes from what is recommended for my measurements on the top, and as you can probably see from these photos it's still plenty big enough. I also lengthened the top by about an inch and a half, which is very standard for me.

The sizing for the trousers is a more standard pyjama style fit - I made the size recommended for my measurements and it's comfy without being baggy.

As I mentioned at the start, I've had this fabric in my stash for quite some time. I essentially got it free - I'd ordered a different colourway of the same print in a clothing company's deadstock fabric sale years ago, but was sent this one instead. When I contacted them about the error, they sent the correct fabric and said I could keep this one. Bonus! I initially thought I'd make a dress, but could never quite decide on what pattern to use and that's how it ended up getting packed away and forgotten about. 

When I got it out again, I couldn't shake the feeling that making a dress out of it might end up looking like I was wearing a tablecloth, and not necessarily in a good way! As I had 3 metres of wide fabric, I had plenty to play with so pyjamas seemed like a sensible option - I think that was the right decision.

I'm glad I rediscovered this fabric, and that it's finally been put to good use. I enjoyed sewing the Peppermint loungewear set, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I might have to see if I can unearth any other large lengths of unused fabric to make some more!

McCalls 7948 Dress Sewing Pattern Review

I enjoy taking part in sewing challenges, so when Sarah, Suzy and Monika announced that this year's theme for #SewTogetherForSummer was sundresses, I decided that I needed to fit an appropriate pattern into my sewing plans. Having just bought McCalls 7948, that seemed to be an ideal candidate.

McCalls 7948, also known as #GraceMcCalls, features four dress options - each with a loose fitting bodice that has a back opening with thread loop and button, as well as various sleeve options and a sleeveless version. There are two different skirt options - either a pleated skirt with side pockets, or a gathered tiered skirt. I went for view C - the sleeveless bodice with gathered tiered skirt.

The instructions are fairly typical of commercial patterns. They're brief but clear if you have a bit of sewing experience, but might not be the most helpful if you're a complete beginner. 

The pattern is rated as Easy, which is probably fair as the looser style makes fitting a bit easier, and there aren't any darts or zips/buttonholes - the only fastening is the thread loop/button at the back neckline. 

One thing I would point out is to be careful when sewing the back facing - the seam allowances at the bottom of the slash are teeny tiny and after one wear my stitching in that area already needs a bit of repair.

I made a couple of changes to the pattern to suit my tastes. The most noticeable is probably that I added waist ties into the side seams. While boxy dresses are great in theory, I know that I like them a lot better in practice if the comfort of the loose style is combined with the option for a bit of added waist shaping. I used the waist tie pieces from the Asteria dress pattern, but in case it helps anyone else my finished ties are roughly 3.5 cm wide and each roughly 75 cm long.

My next alteration was to the armholes. There's no separate bodice/armhole cutting line for the sleeveless bodice - you just cut the same bodice as for the sleeved options and then bind the armholes rather than adding sleeves. In this case, I thought that doing that made the shoulders look too wide on me so I removed a wedge from the armscye. I ended up taking off about 3 cm at the shoulders and redrew the curve from there on both the front and back so it joined the original line at the underarm.

The third change I made was to the fabric cutting rather than the shape of the finished dress. The pattern has you cut the bottom tier of the gathered skirt in three pieces. I think this is possibly so it can be squeezed onto narrow fabric, but I had wide fabric with a large print that I didn't want to break up too much so I cut the bottom tier in two pieces. This means that I didn't end up with seams part way round the front of the dress. It's easy to do this - just measure the width of the skirt tier piece, multiply that by three and divide the result by two to get the width that you need.

When it comes to sizing, as with many commercial patterns, there's a lot of ease built into this pattern. Yes, this is meant to be a loose style but if you follow the recommended sizing it would end up VERY loose. I always pay more attention to the finished garment measurements (on the pattern paper), and based on those I made a straight size 14. That's one size down from what is recommended for my bust measurement and two sizes down from my waist/hip, and it's still plenty loose enough for my taste. 

I also lengthened the bodice by 1.5", which is very standard for me. 

While I really like the shape and style of this dress, the real star of the show is the fabric that I used. It's a cotton from Fabrics Galore (sadly it's no longer in stock) and I couldn't resist it when I saw it. It's a slightly odd fabric in some ways - there's a bit of stiffness and almost a waxy feel to it and I had to fight with it to get it to gather nicely (which made sewing those skirt tiers a little frustrating!), but you can forgive those things for a print this good I think. Even my dad commented that it was very jolly, and usually his standard comment about anything I make is 'it's alright'!

I really love how my M7948 dress turned out - all those colours and the volume in the skirt make it really fun to wear and I feel good in it, probably because I took the time to make changes to make it really "me". I'm glad that #SewTogetherForSummer pushed me to make it now, and I'm already thinking of ideas for using some of the other versions of the pattern. Have you sewn any of the views of this pattern?

Tilly & The Buttons Lotta - the knit version

 Usually I don't blog projects using patterns that I've already reviewed - there often isn't much to add to my original thoughts - but sometimes things are different enough to warrant their own post. That's the case for this Tilly & The Buttons Lotta dress, because it's made in a knit fabric, whereas my original Lotta dress used a woven cotton.

One of the things that first drew me to the Lotta dress was that it was designed to be made in either knit or woven fabrics. I had my eye out all winter for some jersey to make a cosy long-sleeved version, but nothing ever quite seemed to be what I wanted. Instead, I picked up a lovely spotty jersey from Threadquarters (sadly it's no longer in stock) in the perfect shade of sky blue early this year and squirreled it away for a summer dress instead.

Now that the weather has finally caught up with the season it's meant to be here in the UK, I thought I'd better get it sewn up and enjoy wearing it while the sun's shining!

The knit version of the Lotta dress is sewn in exactly the same way as the woven one, with the exception of the neckline being finished with a neckband rather than a facing - and using stretch stitches/a ballpoint needle of course.

The fabric suggestions on the pattern recommend drapey jersey, stretch velvet or lightweight French terry, but this is a fairly standard cotton jersey (a bit of drape, but nowhere near as much as a viscose jersey would have) and it works nicely I think. 

One of my favourite things about this version compared with my original one (which I also really like, and have worn a lot already) is that the jersey is slightly heavier than the woven cotton I used and it gives the skirt a bit of added body meaning that it moves beautifully as you walk.

My woven cotton Lotta dress is already really comfortable, but the jersey fabric takes Lotta into definite secret pyjamas territory - it's so comfy!

I used the same size and adjustments as in my original version - if you want more details you can read my blog post here.

So all in all, I really love how this dress turned out. It's possibly my favourite shade of blue, it was an easy and enjoyable project to sew, and it's a great dress to wear. I can definitely see more jersey Lotta dresses in my future!

Tilly & The Buttons Lyra Dress Review

When a particularly lovely looking sewing pattern is released, sometimes you just have to jump on the bandwagon and make one don't you? That's what happened for me with the Lyra dress, the latest offering from Tilly & The Buttons. The short version is that I love it, but read on if you want my review...

Lyra is a shirtwaist dress with a blousy bodice with button front opening, two-piece collar and stand, pockets and options for either short sleeves or full-length sleeves with elasticated cuffs. It also has a gathered skirt that can either be left simple at knee length or have a midi panel added for a tiered look. For my version I used the short sleeves and tiered skirt, and I think that makes a great summer dress.

The pattern is available in sizes from 30/24/33" to 60/53/61" (bust/waist/hip in both cases).

The Lyra dress is rated as being for Improvers, which I'd say is fair. There are quite a few steps to go through, but none of them individually are that complicated and the instructions are very thorough and detailed to help you along the way. 

That said, I also like the fact that the instructions are illustrated with really clear photos that allow you to quickly see what each step involves so you don't have to read everything in full if you have a bit more experience. 

I really enjoyed sewing my Lyra dress. As I said before, it isn't the speediest pattern to sew, but no one step takes too long and it's nice to work through them all gradually.

My measurements put me in a size 5 at the bust and between a 5 and 6 at the waist and hips but I made a straight size 5 - there's a fair bit of ease in the waist, and plenty of extra space around the hips so I knew that would work out fine. I also added 1.5" to the length of the bodice, which is fairly standard for me.

As I'd added extra length to the bodice, I also added in an extra button and altered the button spacing. I do this for most buttoned bodices - both because of lengthening them and to make sure that there's always a button at my bust point so there's no risk of gaping.

The only other change I made was to use fabric belt loops instead of thread loops, which is just a personal preference.

The fabric I used is a printed lightweight denim from Croft Mill - I love the pretty print of daisies and flowers, and it's a lovely fabric for this pattern. It's easy to work with, but with just enough drape to hang nicely. Croft Mill have lots of other lightweight denim prints if you're looking for something similar.

I also added a cute label from Pink Coat Club to liven up the insides - this design is currently sold out but Joy has lots of other great designs to choose from.

So to summarise my review - this is a great sewing pattern! The sizing is good, the instructions are thorough and it's fun to sew. Most importantly, it creates a lovely dress that's beautifully swishy and comfy to wear. What more could you want?!