Project Procrastination

 
There hasn't been huge amounts of sewing going on around these parts over the last couple of weeks.  I've been suffering from project procrastination.  There are too many things I want or need to make, and I don't know where to start.
 
Plus I had a dramatic change of hairstyle last week, and while I'm really happy I did it, it somehow makes all my clothes feel wrong!  If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen a photo of my haircut, if not, here's the Instagram pic.
 
 
 
As you can see, it's quite a change!  I feel like I need a wardrobe change to match!  I'm not feeling the love for my dresses quite as much now my hair is shorter and want either some new "cooler" dresses, or some stylish separates. 
 
Am I the only one who feels the need of a change of style when I get a new haircut?
 
So, to compound my project procrastination, I'm trying to fit a pair of trousers, with limited success. After having made a couple of muslins, I've worked out I have excess fabric in the back of the thigh.  Pinning out a vertical double ended dart in the back of the leg solved the problem, but I'm not sure how to transfer that onto the pattern.  I've actually ordered a copy of Pants for Real People today, and I'll wait until that arrives before continuing.
 
I'm also having second thoughts about my coat.  I was planning on making this one:
 
 
 
 
I've actually muslined this, and have all my fabrics and notions.  I'm having second thoughts though and am now thinking of this one:
 
 
 
 
They're both Burdastyle patterns, and if I decide to go with the second choice, it will be navy, as that's what fabric I have.  The second one is actually a plus size pattern, but I think if I make the smallest size with slightly larger seam allowances it wouldn't need to much in the way of grading.  I would also very likely omit the collar, as I always wear a scarf when it's cold anyway. 
 
So, please give me your coat related opinions!  Which one would you make?  Why?


Where I Live

 
 
Wow, this is my 200th post!  In honour of this, I thought I'd write about something a little bit different today.  Earlier this week Gail from Today's Agenda posted on her blog inviting readers to ask her questions.  If you asked her a question, she would ask one in return.
 
I posted a question for her, and the one she asked me was "What are your favourite and least favourite things about the place you live?"
 
So, today I'm going to tell you a bit about where I live, and what I love about it.
 
I live in a small town called Berkhamsted, in West Hertfordshire, about 25 miles North-West of London. 
 
Berkhamsted dates back to Roman times, the current High Street is where the ancient Roman Akeman Street ran from St Albans to Cirencester. Berkhamsted first featured in history in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings, when William the Conqueror received the surrender of the Anglo-Saxon English in the town.
 
The town has ruins of a medieval castle which was host to many medieval kings and queens. 
 


 
 
In more recent history the author Graham Greene lived in the town, and attended the Boys School, where his father was headmaster.
 
The High Street features many independent shops and varied architecture, along with numerous restaurants, pubs and bars. 
 
 
Top left in the above picture is the old town hall, where we held our wedding reception.
 
Berkhamsted is a lovely place to visit on a weekend morning for breakfast or coffee and cake.  We live about 15 minutes walk from the centre of the town, so in nice weather we will often walk into the town for just this purpose.  We did so this morning.
 
The Grand Union Canal runs through the town, and it's a lovely alternative to walk into town along the tow path in good weather - it can get very muddy! 
 
 
 
One of my favourite things is to walk this way in the winter - if it's really cold the canal freezes over.
 
 
 
Berkhamsted is also home to The Rex cinema, which was named by the BBC as "possibly Britain's most beautiful cinema".  The cinema first opened in 1938 and closed 50 years later.  After being left derelict for 16 years, it was completely refurbished in it's original art deco style and reopened in 2004. 
 
 
 
Once you've visited the Rex, you don't want the multiplex experience!
 
As I was writing this post, I kept thinking about Gail's original question, and I find I can't really answer it fully.  I love everything about this town, from it's location set in the Chiltern Hills - we can be in the countryside in a matter of minutes - to the fact that whenever you walk along the High Street you're almost guaranteed to meet someone you know.   And I can't actually think of anything I don't like about it at all.
 
I hope you've enjoyed my little tour around my town.  I've lived here for 17 years, and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  
 
 
 

 
 


Minerva Blogger Network - October Separates

 
When I ordered the fabric for this months Minerva Blogger Network project it was going to be a dress. 
 

 
 
However, as you can see, it isn't a dress!  When the weather started to cool down and I began to unearth my Autumn/Winter clothes I realised I was desperately in need of separates.  Particularly cosy tops that could be worn with jeans, or with a skirt for a smart casual day at work.  So my plans changed (as they often do - I'm fickle like that) and I decided on a top.
 
 
 
This top is actually rubbed off of one of my favourite sweaters.  I used this tutorial from A Fashionable Stitch and as the sweater I was using was a very simple raglan sleeved one with no shaping, it was as quick as anything! 
 
When I came to cut the fabric out I did add a little bit of waist shaping, as the "base" sweater was much thinner and more fluid than my fabric.  I also added cuffs to the sleeves and the foldover collar.  The collar was totally taken from the new pattern I bought last week at the Knitting and Stitching Show - the MiY pull on shift dress.  The pattern piece fitted my neckline perfectly, but it would have been just as easy to draft my own.
 
 
 
The fabric is gorgeous.  It's a ponte knit, and as well as this colourway, it also comes in grey with a black floral pattern.  It's the perfect weight for this top. 
 
I had 2 metres of the fabric, and once the top was finished I realised I had enough for a skirt as well.  Bonus!
 
 
 
I wanted a pull on skirt, and decided to use the pattern in my Alabama Studio Sewing and Design book, with an added self drafted waistband.  The skirt is cut with the stretch going round the body, and the waistband with the stretch going vertical.  This makes it a little bit of a wriggle to get into, but once on it fits perfectly. 
 
 
 
Both garments were made on my overlocker (which I'm beginning to wonder how I managed without) and hems were finished with the 3-step zigzag on my regular machine.  Because the fabric is nice and thick, the hem stitches sink in and you can barely see them.
 
Here's a shot of both garments worn together - I don't think I would actually wear them both at the same time, but it doesn't look as bad as I thought it might. 
 

 

Knitting and Stitching Goodies

 
I had a sneaky day's leave from work today to go to The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, London.  I've been going to this show on and off for well over 20 years.  I can remember going with my mum and a couple of her friends when I was in my early 20's and literally spending all day there. 
 
This year I went alone, got there for when it opened and left around lunchtime.  I prefer to go early as the first hour is normally much less crowded and you can see a lot before it get too busy. 
 
These are the goodies I came home with today.
 
 

 
 
Starting on the left, 5 balls of Sublime Luxury Tweed DK, to knit a little pullover top for myself, and of course the pattern book to go with it.   This colour will go well with my Winter wardrobe, and it should be quite a quick knit.
 
 

 
 
Next we have a dress pattern - the Easy Pull-on Shift Dress from MiY Collection.  Once I'd bought the pattern, of course I had to look for some fabric, and got 3 metres of grey flannel, but I can't remember which stall this was from!  My husband's comment when I showed him the pattern is that it looked shapeless, but the sample MiY had on their stand (made in denim - which looked lovely) was really nice, so I have high hopes for this one. It is a loose style, but didn't appear to be completely shapeless.  All being well, this will be worn with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, thick tights and boots. 
 
 

 
 
More fabrics were then purchased.  1.5m of teal jersey and 1.5m of bird print poly/viscose (possibly?) from Simply Fabrics, and 1.5m of black crinkle burnout jersey from somewhere else.  The black jersey has a nice floral burnout pattern which I could not photograph.   The jerseys will both be simple long sleeved tops, the bird print I'm not sure about, but at only £3.00 a metre I couldn't leave it!
 
 

 
 
My other yarn purchase was some grey Drops Alpaca Boucle from Nest to knit a cardigan for my mum for Christmas.   I knitted myself a cardigan from this recently and my mum has been trying to steal it from me every time she sees it.  Just hope I can get it knitted in time (and possibly one for my sister too) otherwise it will be a birthday present!
 
Those were my purchases for the day.  I think I did quite well this time, everything I bought - except possibly the bird print fabric - I have a plan for.  No completely random purchases at all, which I admit I have sometimes succumbed to.   I find it's so easy to get carried away and buy things just because they look cute or pretty on the stall, only to wonder why you've spent all that money on it when you get home!
 
 
Oh, and I helped David from GBSB series 2 choose a sewing pattern! 
 
 
 

 

Better Late Than Never!

 
Believe it or not, this is my September Minerva Blogger network project!  I had the project made in plenty of time, but then totally ran out of time to photograph it and write my blog post before I went on holiday.  Vicki kindly said I could send her the post as and when I could...  I've finally managed it only 2 weeks late!
 
For this (or last!) months project I wanted to make some separates that would be suitable for the coming Autumn and Winter weather.   At the Minerva Meet-up in June I spent quite a bit of time choosing suitable fabrics and finally decided on some John Kaldor jersey in a pansy pattern for a top and some lovely ponte knit in a coordinating Forest colour for a skirt.  Both fabrics are gorgeous quality.



 
 
I spent a long time trying to decide which patterns to use, then came up with the idea of hacking my favourite By Hand London Anna dress pattern into separates. 
 
The skirt was straight forward.  I simply used the midi skirt panels and added a simple folded waistband to the top.  The back is closed by an invisible zip - which is navy because that's the closest colour match I could get - and I inserted the zip so that the top sits level with the top of the waistband.  I've seen this finish many times in ready to wear skirts and I much prefer it to a fastening in the waistband above the zip.
 
 
 
The top took a little more thinking about, and I'm actually planning on doing a tutorial (hopefully in the next couple of weeks).  What I did was firstly to use the tutorial on the By Hand London blog to lengthen the sleeves, then lengthened the bodice about 6 inches.  The back has fish eye darts now, where I lengthened the original darts down into the added on section and tapered them out to nothing a couple of inches above the hem. 
 
 
 
It's quite hard to see in the above photo, but the front pleats were lengthened and tapered out to nothing the same as the back darts, so they are now long darts with open tops. 
 
I wore the top during OWOP and have worn both the top and skirt to work since.  I think they'll fit really well into my Autumn and Winter wardrobe, as they're perfectly appropriate office wear, but still very comfortable.  Of course, both pieces will get worn with other items as well.
 
 

 
 
Apologies for the drag lines in the above photo, they're not there in real life, but the downside of taking your own photos means you can't always spot these things!
 
 
 
 
I think I've probably hacked the Anna pattern enough now, and it's time to move on to something else!