Last of the summer wardrobe

The extended summer has been a joy here and some summer clothes that I made towards the end of August are still seeing lots of wear,  These are both patterns that I've made before, stalwarts if you like, where I have perfected the fit or style to just how I want it.  

Starting with the Belcarra, made like this one and this one.   I used a metre of Nani Iro double gauze Pon Pocho in cream peach.  I did have to do some creative cutting to squeeze it out of such a short length and make the most of the pattern. 

The only change was that I sewed the raglan seams down around ¼" either side of the seam line and I made the sleeve cuff slightly bigger along the long edge and it attaches just that little bit more easily. 

I have made three Belcarra's- and considering it was a pattern that I wasn't especially taken with on first glance, it has been the perfect summer top and uses such a small amount of fabric.  It is especially good to use with an expensive fabric that you can't afford to buy a lot of!

The skirt is my second version of Grains De Couture Opale Maxi from this book.   I made the pockets slightly deeper and did a different zig zag of stitching to hold the front pleats.  The fabric is Oakshott Seasons shot cotton in pink early rose and is currently on sale at Oakshott.  It is the same weight as the Colourshott fabrics and needs a good prewash as some of the colour will be lost on the first couple of washes.  The piping was a scrap of Elements in a very pale pink.  I made my piping using a little fusible hem web rather than sewing it together- I saw this tip somewhere ages ago, makes it all come together a little faster!

Instead of my usual helper, Mindy came in for a few photos.  She is generally pretty camera shy and a bit of an old lady at fifteen, but age has made her increasingly mellow and she still has a kittenish side.

I'm hoping to get a dress sewn by Saturday to wear at the next local sewing meet up, something with a hint of Autumn ...

'Misplaced Steps' Square Pillow: Oakshott 'Rio' fabrics

Lynne contacted a few UK bloggers with an Oakshott colourshott challenge a few weeks back- 1st hurdle was to call dibs on your colour way of choice: imagine a virtual jumble sale of pointy elbow emails as we each frantically emailed back to Lynne with our selection whilst going to work, dropping off children etc.   I chose 'Rio', a blues/orange fat eight pack. 

We each needed to devise a pattern to be shared on our blogs and could also be used as part of the pack so that you could buy the bundle and have an item in mind to make.  I wanted something with strips and I am a Courthouse Steps fan so this is what I came up with, 'Misplaced Steps' square pillow cover.

This is one of the Courthouse Steps blocks in isolation.  

Finished Size= 20 ¼" square

Materials Required:

Oakshott Colourshotts Fat Eighth Pack in 'Rio'

Backing – 1/2 metre Colourshotts COTX53 Baja Blue for pillow envelope back

Batting/wadding or fusible fleece (I used Vilene Quiltex) – 22” square for pillow front, two rectangles each measuring 16” x 22” for pillow envelope back

Pillow pad 20” square, or 22”  square for fuller pillow.

Things to remember:

Use scant ¼” seam

Seams are pressed to the side unless stated otherwise

Cut across width of fabric (WOF). The fabric selvedge will be vertical

TIP: Prewash, then starch and press the fat eights before cutting using a gentle, plant based, non aerosol spray starch e.g. Earth Friendly, Astonish or Flatter. This helps to make more accurate blocks.

1. Cutting: Follow the table below:

Fabric A (COTX33 Bergamo) Beige Cut two WOF 1 ¼” wide strip. From this cut: nine 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” squares, one 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangle, one 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangle,  Cut two WOF 2 ¼” wide strips for binding back panels. Trim to 20 ¾” in length.	Fabric B (COTX34 Sandstone) Cream Cut three WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: five 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, four 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles, two 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles, four 1 ¼” x 7 ¼” rectangles
Fabric C (COTX37 Sunshine) Gold Cut four WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: three 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, four 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles, six 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles, six 1 ¼” x 7 ¼” rectangles	Fabric D (03 Nectarine) orange Cut four WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: five 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, five 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles, four 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles,  three 1 ¼” x 7 ¼” rectangles
Fabric E (COTX05 Campion) Rust Cut four WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: five 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, four 1 ¼” x 4 ¼”rectangles, five 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles, five 1 ¼” x 7 ¼” rectangles	Fabric F (COX53 Baja Blue) Light Blue Cut five WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: eight 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” squares, eight 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, seven 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles,  eight 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles From the extra fabric for the pillow back, cut two rectangles 16” x 22”
Fabric G (COTX17 Timor) Mid Blue Cut four WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: four 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” squares, four 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, five 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles, three 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles	Fabric H (COTX16 Banda) Dark Blue Cut four WOF 1 ¼” wide strips. From these cut: six 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” squares, six 1 ¼” x 2 ¾” rectangles, five 1 ¼” x 4 ¼” rectangles, six 1 ¼” x 5 ¾” rectangles

 

Colour Diagram:

Block Measurements Diagram:

 

2. Assembly

There are nine Courthouse steps blocks in this pillow cover and it is constructed in three rows of three. Use the colour and Measurement diagrams to match the colours and fabric pieces to each block. Start with block one (top left corner) arrange all the pieces and colours needed for this block following the layout and colours in the diagrams before you start sewing.

i. To make a Courthouse steps block, start with the centre square. With right sides together, sew one blue colour square to the top edge of the centre square. Press blue square away from the centre square. Continue following the Construction diagram and referring to the Colour and Measurement diagrams for size and colour of square/rectangle. The block should measure 7 ¼” square unfinished.

ii. Repeat following the diagrams until there are 9 blocks. Arrange the blocks into three rows of three. Join blocks to make three rows. Join rows.

3. Quilting and Finishing

i. Baste or fuse batting/fleece to pillow front and back pieces. Quilt as desired; diagonal lines are effective on this design. Trim and square edges. Front should measure 20 ¾” square, back pieces each measure 15” x 20 ¾”.

ii. Fold binding strip in half along length, press. Use to bind back pieces by sewing folded binding strip to right side of back using ¼” seam: the strip raw edges line up with back piece raw edge. Turn binding folded edge to wrong side of back piece and stitch in place by machine or by hand. Place back pieces and pillow front right sides together; the back pieces will overlap. Stitch around the pillow edges with 1/4” seam. Press seam and turn through. Press and insert pad!

I kept the quilting simple with diagonal lines in Aurifil 28wt on the top thread and 50wt on the spool.

'Rio' and colour themed fat eighth packs will be available from Oakshott Fabrics at the Festival of Quilts.  Are you going? I am undecided at the moment as I will be working that week but I haven't been before and I do fancy it so maybe a Saturday trip is in order?  Please share any experiences below!

Here is the full schedule of all the blogs on the bloghop:

31 June:  Jo from My Bearpaw

1 July:     Kerry from Very Kerry Berry

3 July:     Nicky from Mrs Sew And Sow

4 July:     Helen from Archie The Wonder Dog

7  July:    Sonia from Fabric And Flowers

8 July:     Charlotte from Displacement Activity

10 July:   Trudi from Trudi-Quilting Prolifically

11 July:   Susan Claire from Gourmet Quilter

And if you would like the button, Lynne has prepared one,  paste the details below!

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<a href="http://lilysquilts.blogspot.co.uk" title="Lily's Quilts"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyOBY44-mLo9WUY_revjdpLXkqhqqTXETPvoqSseiNS0C0XzGt_cPUDDNei0JzhGrdvB39k8mRjKPRUMpTMP4MuZEIwlaL6EZ6B_ThF15g7t6k9aKRa7o4vcxXtk8_F8SoTOueWtGUK0/s1600/oakshott+button.jpg" alt="Lily's Quilts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Calluna Cami in Herringbone - The sewing details

Oakshott fabrics are always a pleasure to sew with: beautiful colours and great feel, they lend themselves to quilts, cushions and also to clothing.  There is a post on using Oakshott's newest fabric, Calluna Herringbone over at Lily's Quilts, this post repeats a little of that along with some more detailed construction info.

Since I made the Carme blouse, I have been wanting to make Pauline Alice's Cami dress.  Pauline also has a sew along for the Cami. The Calluna  Herringbone is what I would describe as a shirting weight.  Imagine a beautiful, quality men's shirt, from the sort of gentlemen's outfitters that sells brightly coloured socks and cashmere sweaters- that is the weight of Calluna.  It is light to medium weight, perfect for shirts and dresses.  It is soft and the weave produces a two tone effect with a light colour on one side and a darker version on the other so perfect for contrast details like the button plackets, collar stands, cuffs and pockets on this dress.  This fabric most definitely needs a prewash.  I washed mine twice with  with non bio powder and on a 40 degrees synthetic wash this is the one that has one line beneath the 40.  My top tip for pre washing Oakshott or any other woven, is to clip a triangle off each corner before you pop it in the wash.  This lessens fraying and tangling.  Calluna Herringbone is wide at 132cm/52".  I used around 2.5 metres to make the Cami dress.  Prewashing (i did two) is essential as there was quite a lot of dye loss.

For a change, I sewed the entire dress using Minty, my singer Featherweight and this was a bit of a turning point.  I already love sewing with this machine but had never done an entire garment.  I have been missing out.  She is a dream for top stitching and because all operations are manual, it was a faster more instinctive and intimate process.  I used my overlocker for all seam finshing where needed although this fabric was great for french seams in in the shirt part of the dress.

I did apply a little of my experience from Chinelo Bally's free cutting class from a few weeks back.  For me this class cemented the importance of detailed and accurate measuring.  I find my bodice area hard to fit.  I am small busted, a little round shouldered and rather spare around the breast bone.  I always need to do a small bust adjustment which I have struggled with and still the fit will be wrong.  With Chinelo, a chest measurement isn't just the circumference around the fullest part of your chest, or even over or under that measurement.  This can be broken down into more detail- apex to apex is useful for me- the easiest way to explain this is nip to nip ( you know what I mean), although this presupposes the cherry is on the fullest part of the bun (again, you know what I mean).  This area is relatively narrow for me.  On a pattern with a waist dart like this, it can generally be found half an inch from the top of the dart.  In a bodice or shirt, this is usually a fitted area for me, so I don't need to allow ease- that would come instead at the side.  I also recommend Joi Mahon's Craftsy class Fast-Track Fitting

from: Craftsy.com, she covers lots of popular pattern adjustments and detailed measuring is all part of the process.    I found it very helpful, especially armhole and sleeve adjustments and her aim is to avoid where possible making muslins which I think every garment sewer can identify with!

I didn't make a muslin for this shirt, but I did do a small bust adjustment on the pattern and my main aim was to reduce the apex to apex measurement to 7" instead of 7 ⅜".  This is an area that is narrower on me than on the usual pattern size that would fit me.  It is also an area that doesn't really need ease so it is a direct measurement I can apply from my body to the pattern.  I was thrilled with the result, best small bust adjustment yet, hence the chest close ups and no muslin!  Pauline covers a small bust adjustment along with lost of others like lengthening the bodice here in the sew along.

For the cuffs, I used a single layer of interfacing as I like these to be relatively soft.  They fall in just the right place for me and I can still comfortably put a cardigan over the top.

I had pink snaps from this shop that have been waiting for the right project- I will follow up with a tutorial on these as they can be fiddly but once you get the hang of them, they give such a clean finish.

Details:

Fabric:  Oakshott Calluna Herringbone in colour 01 

Pattern: Cami dress by Pauline Alice, size 38 waist ( with a little grading from 36 in the shirt section)

Changes:

*Small bust adjustment reducing apex to apex to 7"

*Lenghtened the skirt from 50cm to 65cm

*Lengthened the bodice by ¼" by sewing a ⅜" seam at the waist- I think I would lengthen this a little further

*Lowered the collar by ⅜" and cut a larger collar and stand 

*Single layer of interfacing on cuffs.

*Reveresed the button plackets so the fabric folded from reverse to the front so I could used the reverse side of the fabric as a detail.

*Raised the pockets slightly- using a 12" zipper allows for this

*Snaps replacing buttons

*Shoes- Orla Kiely 'Matilda' for Clarks.  (Very flash I know)

Love the dress pattern, love the fabric and a very wearable, pretty and comfortable dress.  Result!

Oakshott and Alice Apple: Squares

Sometimes I need to go back to basics.  Ignore the pretties on Instagram, blogs and elsewhere and just do something simple and let the fabric do the talking.  This quilt top was made from a stack of Oakshott fat eights of Italy (kindly sent by Michael), a charm pack of 37 squares bought from Alice Apple and a few random light and vintage squares from my scraps.  144 x 4" squares in all, 

Organising rows and 'randomness'.

Chain piecing.

Nesting seams.

No bells or whistles, just lovely shimmering colours.  The Italy bundle was a great match for the vintage style colours of the Alice Apple squares,  a very 1970s palette and the silvery grey warp thread that runs through this range has a subtle shimmer.

A quick flick through one of my older inspiration books whilst I was taking these photos confirmed the happy marriage of simple shapes and bold patterns and colours.  These are all from Patchwork Simplified by Alice Timmins- a great source of vintage patchwork eye candy with English paper pieced maxi skirts and slightly disturbing toys.

The 1970s with its rather variable aesthetic (note the green long shag pile in the bottom pic, urgh!) was very much my decade.  Combos like this make me feel so at home.

Liberty Diamond Ring

A long time in the making but finally finished: Liberty Diamond Ring quilt.

This started when I first saw Alexia Abegg's pattern  a few quilt markets ago.  Lots of people commented on it at the time although I haven't seen many versions of it made.  It does require a lot of background fabric but it is a great showcase for stunning prints like Liberty lawn and it was easy to follow. No pairing of print and colour is repeated in my version- all are different.  When I received an Oakshott Impressions stack I knew it was just the thing for this design. 

Details:

Pattern: Diamond Ring Quilt, Green Bee Patterns, Alexia Abegg

Size; Throw, 72" square

Background: Robert Kaufman Quilter's Linen in Grey

Coloured Fabric: Oakshott Impressions, fat eighth stack (diamonds and scrappy binding)

Prints: Liberty lawn (some from here) and a couple of Lecien Memoire a Paris Lawn prints (similar here and here)

Threads: Pieced with Aurifil 50wt, quilted with Aurifill 28 wt with 50wt on bobbin.   I used the Simply Color small box of colours for the heavier thread.

Batting: Hobbs Heirloom

For the quilting, I stitched the ditch on the diamonds and around the circle.  For the centre, I found a geometric faceted diamond cut drawing and drew that on the centre with a Chakoner- Japanese chalk device.  It worked well, sufficient to see and removed easily.   I used a Hobbs Heirloom batting for the first time.  It is lovely and light to use, the lot is a little thicker than Quilter's Dream Blend and it needs closer quilting (at least 3 ½" apart). I stitched using a range of colours in the centre.  The outer border was quilted in concentric circles and with grey and with lines radiating out from the diamonds.

The binding was scraps of the Oakshott Impressions joined together.  Oakshott makes a lovely binding as its so light and responds beautifully to an iron and holds its shape as you turn the binding.  I machine my binding and use Roxanne basting glue and Clover Wonder Clips to help with this.

The backing is a warm light twill, maybe wool cotton.  It was a car boot sale find and is lovely and soft.  It is a gift for a family member (let's say no more in case they are reading).

The photo shoot involved all the family, you can see us all in this shot!

Love Liberty Local

I am lucky living where I do.  Its a pretty little city, a short drive from the beach and has the bonus of a friend selling Liberty so should I ever run short, I am only minutes away from a carefully curated supply!  

Jo, aka 'A Life in Lists' has been running her Etsy shop for some years now and her choice of prints is sublime, just the right mix of new and traditional.  It can be a fine line with Liberty between edgy digital prints and old lady chic and Jo is definitely on the right side of this.  She is becoming a part time sponsor here, a new occasional position for small businesses, and has 10% discount up for grabs for my blog readers  with the code VERYKERRY10 (expires 15th December) and she ships worldwide.   Having had the pleasure of seeing all the stock in person in Jo's sewing room I shall take you round her virtual shop, starting with charm packs.  The 'Random' pack is a great place to begin, a quality street, bit of everything selection of 36 x 5" squares:

She also has a beautiful low volume pack which contains many of my favourite quieter prints.  This one literally makes me sigh:

She has a similar but more masculine and modern grey/blue charm pack. 

See what I mean about her stock choices!  If you see anything you like in a small cut that you have suddenly decided you must have more of for clothing or quilting or whatever , let Jo know and she just might be able to get hold of it for you.  I see prints in her shop that I don't see in elsewhere!

If a charm pack is not enough for you, there is the bundle option, 8 fat eighth cuts of your choice, (there is also a 4 option and a mega 18 colour wheel option:

I think my favourite classic print is this green Betsy.  I've used it in my Diamond Ring Quilt (post on that coming very soon) and as a trim on clothing.  The colours are beautiful, I am always drawn to those aqua and green tones, and this is the right level of ditsy floral for me. 

Equally stunning in grey, Betsy

 There are prints aimed at children, small scale cute motifs with huge appeal to children and grown up 40 something women too.  This is called 'Cars', you'd never have guessed right?

Hello Kitty, another Liberty favourite for children and adults.  I saw a toddler child in one of my classes with this fabric as her coat lining!

Or this in Hello Kitty in navy (I have some of this secreted away…)

This is a larger scale print from the annual art range- different 'personalties' designing for Liberty, this is Ornithology by Edwyn Collins from Autumn/Winter 2011.

More art prints, 'Philippa' by Grayson Perry- lots of little bicycles and this print is named after Grayson's wife.  I've made a tunic from this print, great for clothing.

A more recent collaboration is with Jamie Oliver and Rachael Pedder-Smith, this print is called 'Truly Scrumptious' also available on a dark navy background. 

This is one of their more unusual prints with huge amounts of detail which in my head works for quilting and clothing and is a long way from the traditional designs. 'Flora Bo D'

And here are some of Jo's prints in action with Oakshott's Impressions and Quilter's linen in grey: my just finished Liberty Diamond Ring quilt.