Winslow & Susie - the autumn edit

Back in August, I wrote a post all about my first pair of Helen's Closet Winslow culottes and wore them with a scoop neck hack of the Sew Over It Susie blouse. Now a few months have gone past, and I'm back again with a more autumnal version of the same outfit.

I really enjoyed wearing my viscose Winslow culottes this summer, so I was keen to try making another version for the cooler weather. While the viscose was lovely when it was hot, I thought some made with a thicker fabric would be nice, and being as I would be wearing them with tights now I also fancied a pair that were a bit shorter than my original version.

Happily for me, I had a piece of navy needlecord sitting in my stash that I found in a charity shop a while back. I always see people online who've found great fabric in charity shops but, even though I'm a frequent charity shop rummager, this was the first time I'd found any actual fabric (as opposed to duvet covers/sheets etc., which I often buy to use for toiles). I had no idea what I would use it for at the time but, at £4 for over 2 metres, I wasn't going to leave it behind.

When the idea of making another pair of Winslow culottes came into my mind, the needlecord seemed to be the perfect candidate. While I was keen to give culottes and tights a try, I wasn't 100% convinced that I would like the look on me so using the charity shop corduroy meant that I wasn't putting expensive fabric at risk. And navy goes with everything (in my wardrobe anyway!), so I shouldn't be short of tops to wear with them.

I made up view B (above the knee) in a size 14 with no alterations, and I'm really happy with how they turned out in the end, although I did have a bit of a hiccup along the way.

I originally used an invisible zip as recommended in the pattern and unfortunately it didn't really cooperate with the needlecord and the thickness it created at the waistband. Zipping them up was a bit tricky but just about OK when I wasn't wearing the culottes, but when I had them on I just couldn't get the zip over the waistband. I think if I'd had someone else around, they'd have been able to do them up for me, but being as I live on my own that wouldn't be a practical long-term solution! So I took the zip out and replaced it with a regular centred zip instead. That wasn't the most fun process being as I'd already trimmed my seam allowances, but I got there in the end.

As I said before, the top is another scoop neck hack of the Sew Over It Susie blouse - which is fast becoming a favourite top pattern for me (my first of these hacks is here).

This time I used the three-quarter sleeves to make it slightly more seasonal. Only slightly though - it definitely wasn't warm enough to be wearing it outside without a cardigan and/or coat when I was taking these photos, and I did get some very odd looks from passers-by.

The fabric is a lovely Liberty lawn which I picked up for a bargain price in the Fabric Rehab closing down sale. It's sad that they're closing - I haven't bought huge amounts of fabric from them, but I've always been really happy with any purchases that I have made. I think there's still time to pick up a bargain in their sale if you're interested...

I wore this outfit (with added cardigan and coat!) last weekend, and I really liked it. The culottes are really comfy, and it turns out I quite like how they look with tights. So much so that I think I might need to make another pair in the not too distant future!

Winslow culottes

Where do you stand on the culottes trend? I'll be honest, it didn't really appeal to me at first. My main experience of wearing culottes was as part of Brownie/Guide uniforms back in the early 90s. Probably not the sartorial highlight of my life. But then photos of the Winslow culottes from Helen's Closet starting popping up on Instagram. They looked great on everyone I saw wearing them, so I decided to bend my usual "dresses and skirts only" policy and give culottes a chance.

The Winslow culottes are wide-legged, with the volume provided by four inverted box pleats (two each on the front and back), and are designed to be worn at any length from shorts to palazzo pants. The knee length version appealed to me most, probably because it's closest to the full skits and dresses that I'm used to wearing so gave me the chance to try out culottes whilst not really leaving my comfort zone.

The pattern was very straightforward, with thorough instructions and lots of clear illustrations to follow. All the notches and everything lined up perfectly, and the culottes came together really easily.

In terms of sizing, I made a straight size 14 based on my waist measurement. My hips should technically fall into the next size up, but as the instructions state, the wide legs mean there's plenty of room in the hips so there was no need for me to grade up.

I always intended to make a knee length version, but I actually cut out the midi length (view C) because I thought that I'd probably want my version a bit longer than view B, but I wasn't quite sure how much longer. This was both because I'm a couple of inches taller than the 5'6" that the pattern is designed for, and because I wanted knee length rather than above the knee. I made up the culottes, tried them on and then pinned them up to work out the length I wanted. In the end, my version is about 3.5" longer than view B from the pattern.

I chose to use a lovely viscose from Sewn because it drapes beautifully, and I thought that would work well for the culottes. Turns out I was right! It's really great fabric, especially for the price of £5 per metre. I was so impressed with it in the shop that I may have also bought some of the powder blue colourway to use for a top.

Talking of tops, the one I'm wearing here is another scoop-neck hack of the Sew Over It Susie blouse. I made this in exactly the same way as my first version - I'm really happy with how that one turned out and it gets lots of compliments (although I think that's mainly due to the fabric), so there was no need to mess with it.

This one uses some pretty Atelier Brunette fabric that I bought in the Black Friday sales last year and hid away to await the arrival of warmer weather. I'm happy it's now been used, because it's lovely to wear.

My Winslow culottes had their maiden outing last weekend and they were great - all the fullness of a skirt, but with the added practicality of shorts/trousers. Particularly welcome when you're out for a walk on a windy day because it means that you're in much less danger of unintentionally revealing more than you want to! I do love my slightly impractical skirts and dresses though, and these culottes won't do anything to change that, but I'll enjoy wearing them  and I'm already thinking of making a shorter version to wear with tights in winter. If you're thinking of giving culottes a go, I'd definitely recommend the Winslow pattern. Are you tempted?

Scoop-neck Susie & Emery skirt

This post is all about two patterns that I've made before, but in slightly different forms to how you may be used to seeing them. The first is a relatively new kid on the block - the Sew Over It Susie blouse, while the second is my most-used pattern - the Christine Haynes Emery dress.

I really like my first Susie blouse, which I made a couple of months ago. At the time, I mentioned that there was a piece of fabric sitting in my stash that I had earmarked for another version, and here it is! I bought the fabric - a lovely hot air balloon print cotton - from Guthrie & Ghani at some point last year. I bought it with the intention of making the Colette Aster, but then changed my mind. Since then, it's almost become a number of other tops, but something always stopped me from cutting into the fabric. When my first Susie was a success, I decided the pattern was what this fabric had been waiting for, but with a couple of changes.

Firstly, I thought that with a fun print like this, it might be better to keep things simple and make a collarless version - obviously a very easy adjustment because you just don't make the collar!

After pondering things for a while though, I thought that a collarless version might look better with a scoop rather than a V neck. This was also fairly simple - I just placed the scoop neck from a tried and tested pattern (the one I used for these two dresses) over the front piece of the Susie blouse, and traced it over. I think it worked nicely!

The Susie blouse is a straightforward and relatively quick project anyway, but omitting the collar means that it becomes really speedy. Much though I like the original pattern and the first version I made, I think I like this scoop neck even more.

Now for the skirt! This isn't exactly what I was planning to sew when I ordered this fabric. It's a linen and viscose mix from Fabric Rehab, which I bought to make a summery circle skirt. Sadly, either the fabric isn't quite as wide as it says on the website, or it shrank a bit during washing. I didn't measure it before washing, but mine's now a good 5cm less than the measurement on the website, and that 5cm was the difference between just about being able to eek out a circle skirt, and not having quite enough material to make a skirt long enough for my liking.

I had a brief strop to myself about not being able to do what I wanted, then decided the fabric would be equally as nice for a gathered skirt. I used the waistband from the Veronika skirt, which I know fits nicely from the versions I've made, and instead of just gathering a rectangle of fabric, I used the skirt pieces (and pockets, obviously!) from the Emery dress. For those of you not familiar with the pattern, the Emery skirt has a slight A-line shape, which slightly reduces the bulk of the gathers at the waist and I think is more flattering on me.

I'd definitely rate the top and the skirt as individual successes, made even better by the fact that they go really nicely together.

These two pieces of fabric both obviously decided that they had different destinies from what I had originally planned for them. That's fine by me, my sewing plans are always fairly flexible anyway, and it's always worth changing things around a bit to get the right outcome - don't you think?

Sew Over It Susie Blouse

I have a long-standing intention to sew more tops. It's a good intention, but it tends to get neglected in favour of the latest shiny new dress pattern, or the opportunity to sew another beautifully twirly skirt. All those skirts will end up being left in the wardrobe if there aren't tops to wear with them though, so when Sew Over It released the Susie blouse pattern recently, it seemed to be just the kind of top I was after so I took it as a sign and got stitching.

As the pattern description says, Susie is a simple but versatile everyday top. It's a loose fitting bodice, with a V-neck, collar and 3 different sleeve lengths (I made the short sleeved version). It appealed to me because of the lack of closures - while I love buttons in general, and I happily wear shirtdresses, I've come to realise that, after an initial burst of enthusiasm when I've just made them, my shirts/blouses that button up tend to get left in the wardrobe. I have no idea why that is, but there we go. Hopefully this little blouse will get worn more!

The lack of any form of closures also means that this is a fairly speedy project - I think I sewed this within a few hours.

This was also helped by the fact that the instructions are really easy to follow and detailed and, combined with the clear photos, make the sewing process a breeze.

In terms of sizing, I fall right between a Sew Over It 12 and 14 on my bust and waist, and between a 14 and a 16 on my hips. Based on the finished garment measurements, I decided to go with the lower of the two sizes, and made a 12, grading out to a 14 at the hips. The fit is spot on as far as I'm concerned - loose enough to be comfy, but fitted enough that it has a nice shape to it and isn't just a tent.

The fabric I used is a lovely spotty lawn that I bought about a year ago from Guthrie & Ghani. It's been sitting in my stash since then, which is a long time for me to wait to use a fabric. I originally bought it with the intention of making a dress, but when it arrived I thought that it was so lightweight that it would be better suited to being a top. It's almost become a number of other patterns over the last year, but I kept changing my mind about what to make. When the Susie pattern appeared, I decided to stop dithering and just use it. Thankfully, I think they suit each other perfectly so that seems to have been a good decision!

I'm happy with the end result, and I can see that I'll make more Susie blouses in the future - for starters, there's another piece of fabric that's been in my stash a while which would probably work well, although I'm thinking of trying a collarless version to mix it up a bit. I also treated myself to New Look 6217 in a recent pattern sale after seeing some pretty versions of the top online. Does anyone have any other good top/blouse patterns to recommend?