Ginger with Pockets

A skirt to compensate for last week's disaster, another Ginger,  pattern by Colette, pockets by me.

I liked these pockets but didn't want binding,  just a simple pocket, lining, joined at the side and bottom, top stitch details and stitched in to the skirt side seams and waistband.  I drafted a shape using the skirt pattern as guidance and made a tester before making the real thing.

The fabric is the uber soft wale corduroy  by Amy Butler,  Soul Blossoms 'English Garden' in Bluestone I bought mine from Julia at Gone to Earth.  Highly strokeable.

I lined it with a cheap thin cotton, corduroy has a tendency to bag out, espcially around the booty and if I am going to all the bother of making a skirt for myself I like the extra touches like lining and natural fibres and pockets big enough to have purpose.

I made this a size up from my last- size 6 in the Colette sizing.  I don't like tightness or restriction, and this is perfect, no gaping but just a little wriggle room.  I sewed the waistband facing just a little further away, about 1/8" from the invisible zipper stitching line- if you have made Ginger you will know what I mean-this zip slides up beautifully.  I do love the shaping on this pattern, the pattern pieces slope in at the back to allow for the small of the back, and also a little at the front to allow for a little belly!  It is A line with added A, very clever simple design.

  Definitely plan to make this one again.  And as you can see from the pics, taken today, no snow here but feverish media coverage of snow elsewhere in the UK.  It was a touch nippy standing outside in the road without a coat and Damian trying to take pictures of my behind without me seeing- cheeky monkey

Fusibles

I am not fan of interfacing- in particular, the iron-in non woven kind.  Even following the instructions closely I find it wrinkles, and worse, melts.  It makes the bag or the clothing feel a bit stiffer but not in the way I want it too and I often end up with some sort of iron glue incident.  With clothing, I now tend to buy woven interfacing, I think it gives a more professional finish- or even an extra layer of fabric instead.  With bags, wallets, purses etc I have tended to use cotton batting/wadding, I could never find the fusible fleece that a lot of USA patterns mention.  Hearing of my difficulties, Julia from Gone to Earth, sent me a couple of generous samples of Vilene fusible fleece, what can I say, it is love at first use.  This is what I made with it.

A little camera wristlet.  The pattern is from Keyka Lou.  If you want a purse to try and you haven't made purses or wallets before, this is the ideal first project- no zips, easy velcro fastening and like all her patterns, the most excellent instructions.  I bought the pattern a while ago, along with this pocket clutch which I shall be making soon and I cannot recommend them more highly.  Both patterns call for interfacing and batting/wadding but with the Vilene fusible fleece I can skip those and use one layer of fleece- I chose the heavier H640 loft as a camera needs a good layer of padding.  When I cut my pattern pieces, I layered up the feature fabric,the lining and the fleece and cut though all three- much faster!

You can see the thickness of the fleece in this pic, three pieces of fabric all backed with fleece.  Julia kindly sent the Vilene instructions for ironing the fleece to fabric.  I think a very important step is letting it cool for 30 mins- I have not done that in the past.  It adhered perfectly, no lumps and bumps on the fabric side at all.  This fleece has a lovely feel- not what I expected, I must expect.  I am a fibre snob and tend to think natural is best but this stuff is the exception.

The biggest difference I found compared to working with batting was the ease of trimming seam allowances.  Reducing bulk in the seam allowance is vital to get a professional finish on your purse or wallet.  With this fleece, I could trim it easily at an angle and feather it away, as a result the edges are a lot less lumpy, top stitching is much easier and the end product looks better.   

I will be trying more with the fleece, the lighter weight one too which I think will be perfect for bags.  If you have had a bad experience making bags with iron on interfacing- this could be your life saver!  You know me, I like to test things thoroughly and I won't big it up unless it genuinely impresses me, this definitely gets my thumbs up!  I have found through hard experience that with interfacing, you get what you pay for.  Saving a few pennies buying the cheap stuff is such a waste when it frazzles under the iron or wrinkles with the top fabric.  I know, I've been there and shed tears! 

This is such a handy little case, I may well make another to carry my phone, keys and card when going to the gym, it is the perfect shape.  Quick to sew too- instant gratification- well nearly.  Fabric roll call- Outer fabric-Melody Miller View Finder print, lining- Chloe's Closet, Hello Betty, Strap-Alexander Henry, Heath in tomato.

By the way, can I just say- Flippin' heck Tucker! (British nostalgic TV lingo- apologies, I can't help myself), over 600 followers, how did that happen?  A big thankyou and a howdy to you all x