September at Eternal Maker

Eternal Maker have been busy the last few months setting up stall at shows and fairs- this weekend at the rather lovely looking The Handmade Fair which from the Instagram festival looks like a cross between a  textile show and an upmarket festival- the good weather helped.   I 'll confess I felt tinge of envy towards those who managed to get there.  I digress.  Let's look at what Eternal Maker have in store online instead.

There's some newly arrived Nani Iro double gauze including these En Garden prints:

En Garden in blue:

En Garden in pink

My recommendation with Nani Iro is that if you like it, buy it sooner rather than later.  Some prints capture people's sewing imagination and fly out of the shop never to be seen again and there's nothing like scarcity to make you want a fabric more than ever! 

This Stella corduroy pin cord  from Lotta Jansdotter caught my eye.  Perfect for children's clothing or t- I am imagining dungarees but whatever takes your fancy.  I'm also imagining a simple, tactile cushion.

This Oliver and S Art Museum vest and trousers pattern would be a great use for the pin cord.

I mentioned Lillestoff jersey fabric in last month's post but I think this fabric has arrived since then, or I missed it.  Some of their designs are aimed principally at children but this Enemenemeins Grey has a little more versatility:

In the Men's pattern section, you will find Thread Theory patterns.  This might be a new company to you?  They've been designing patterns for a while, mainly menswear but with a diversion into women's wear with the Camas blouse.  The Strathcona Henley top is my favourite out of the three.  I like the Henley as a male or female style- I find the button placket adds more interest than a standard scoop or round neck.

It would work beautifully in Robert Kaufman Laguna jersey in Onyx- black cotton jersey with 5% lycra, 150cm wide.  I've got some of this waiting to become Yoga clothing for me and the daughter and it's lovely quality.  There'sa Strathcona Henley sew-along currently taking place at the Thread Theory blog and there have been some excellent posts packed full of excellent advice including

• How to choose men's t-shirt fabric
• How to sew with knits- included stitches, sewing machine/serger and cutting out tips

I throughly recommend having a read through!  The other Thread Theory patterns available at Etneral Maker are Jedediah pants, a chino style trouser/shorts pattern 

and the Newcastle cardigan- a sweatshirt style top with button fastening.

There's some soft looking cotton jersey fleece that would work for the Newcastle cardigan and also for a Grainline Linden sweatshirt.   The front looks like a knit and the back has the fleecy finsih that makes it feel cosy.  You can go for a navy fleck (95% cotton, 5 % elastane)

There's a vibrant green if you want a bit more colour, and a grey for a more neutral option.

There are some new arrivals from Janet Clare's latest quilting collection for Moda, Nocturne.    This is Galaxy in grey, (also available in taupe):

And this is Matchsticks in grey (love this one!), also available in navy.

Less is definitely more with this collection.   I hope you enjoyed this month's visit!

New Independent Dressmaking Pattern Listing resource at Sewing Directory

Fiona and Julie have been busy at Sewing Directory compiling a huge list of independent sewing pattern designers.  It starts with The Ultimate List of Independent Dressmaking Pattern Designers and more is already being added including quilt and bag designers. 

By clicking on this resource I can find a comprehensive alphabetical list of independent pattern designers/companies along with a description, a link where to buy, what currency the pricing is in and whether patterns are available as a download or in paper form including links to UK shop stockists.  I've had a sneak peek and I've already found new-to-me designers and patterns from all round the world.  All that information and it's free too!  Thanks Fi and Julie, great stuff!

Deer and Doe Fumeterre Maxi Skirt: Review, Charcoal Chambray maxi

 September has brought a flurry of new sewing patterns including three releases from Deer and Doe.  I haven't bought a D&D pattern since Chaitagne as the styles hadn't really worked for me, maybe a bit young?  I digress, the new styles fill me with joy, especially the Fumeterre skirt. 

A maxi skirt is a signature garment for me.  it's the equivalent of jeans although I have at least 10 maxi skirts in my wardrobe and maybe one pair of jeans- they may have now been passed to my daughter!   I also had a longish length of chambray, an eBay bargain with a few faults but great as a first try on this pattern.  Deer and Doe patterns are very consistent size wise so I knew I would be a 38 and with the branding revamp I noticed that the finished garment measurements are included on the patterns which is very helpful.  

As a result I traced my pattern with a size 40 waist grading to 38" hip by the first triangle notch and I shortened the length by 4".  I knew I wanted my skirt to sit a little lower than my high waist.  I can't bear tightness around my high waist, it makes my belly bloat in minutes and is generally uncomfortable.  Adding this extra ease worked perfectly for me.  I also tapered the side edges of the waistband pieces so they are slightly diagonal rather than straight- similar to these trousers.  When it comes to shortening, I did try adding a shorten line just over half way down the panels so that I could use the original hem facing pattern pieces but the adjustment at the side seams is too big so I shortened from the hem measuring up 4" upwards  following the curve and redrafted the hem facing.  For reference I am 164cm tall, just under 5' 5".

Additions included:

• Cutting the hem facing and fly shield plus pocket linings (the original pockets are not lined) from a contrast fabric.  I used Liberty lawn, it's perfect for this purpose. 
• Addition of pocket linings.  I did this as I do use pockets and these are patch pockets that will bag out if I stuff my hands in them a lot.  The lining fabric needs to be thin to avoid adding bulk.
• I added interfacing to the fly front that will be topstitched on the left front.  I used Perfect Fuse sheer.  

I had 235cm of 140 wide fabric and I just managed to fit the shortened pattern pieces out of it - as the fabric had a few faults I was slightly limited and the hem facings need an extra 50cm of fabric so remember to allow for that.  You readily need a fabric that either has no directional print or works both ways vertically otherwise you will need a lot more fabric!  It's always the way with panelled or A-line maxi skirts!

The sewing process was pretty straightforward.  I chose view B with a fly front which I have no experience of sewing.  The instructions are brief on Deer and Doe patterns and these were no exception.   The patter is rated as 4 out of 5 so it does need a little experience although view A would be easier than view B.  I did get my fly shield the wrong way round so the overlocked edge rather than a fabric folded edge was on the outside but the fly functions so this was a minor slip up by me. 

I used glue basting for the pockets and for the waistband.   It's a great little cheat and is so fast and effective. The waistband is fitted back to front with the lining first and the outer second so the finishing seam is on the outside of the waistband.  It makes for a very neat finish.  I used a hook and bar fastener rather than a button to finish the waistband off.

What can I say?  I love it.  The addition of a little elastic in the back waist means the waistband can sit higher on me than I can usually wear comfortably and it feels comfortable and the elastication is so minimal it does not have the look of an elasticated waist (I'm not usually a fan of these). 

It's swishy and flows as I walk.  I was lucky with the length: it is long enough to be a maxi but doesn't get a wet hem in the rain or make me trip up walking up stairs.  I thank my daughter as usual for these photos, she does such a great job.  I did take a phone snap to capture the tucked in version.  

With the right top tucked in it gives a great effect of length, especially to my legs which are in reality on the short side.  I feel like this pattern could've been designed for me!  I bought my patterns (I also bought Cardamome) direct from Deer and Doe and you can also buy them from Village Haberdashery- you need to email Annie to arrange this, they can't be sold by another retailer online, only by Deer and Doe themselves.  There are some tutorials coming from Elenore for the dress patterns including small and large bust adjustments and the sizing range has been increased for all the new patterns.  There's also new colour coding: all woven patterns are in Ochre packaging and are part of the Botany collection.  There's another colour for knits/jersey and they form the Meterology collection and there are designated hashtags for all designs #DDfumeterre.  

Edited to add:

A few people mentioned in emails and on IG have asked how this style compares with the Sewaholic Gabriola skirt.  Although they are both maxi skirts, there are some differences.  

• I think Fumeterre uses a little less fabric. 
• The Fumeterre has panels cut on the straight grain, the Gabriola makes more use of bias in it's  diagonal hip sections, hence it uses more fabric.
• Fumetrre has pockets. 
•  I found the fit easier on the Fumeterre.  Maybe because Deer and Doe patterns fit me with less alterations.  I found the hips needed a lot of reduction on the Gabriola even though I am slightly pear shaped.
• Although I like yokes on skirts, the Gabriola one tends to emphasise my belly at the front rather than smooth over it!  There is a greater use of bias on the Gabriola style. 
•  I like them both, they each have great flow when walking but I'm thinking about my second Fumeterre and I haven't made another Gabriola! 

I hope that helps! 

Farmer's Wife 1930s QAL Blocks 1 & 2: Addie & Aimee

Welcome to the first weekly post in the year long project of the Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along.   The very first block is 'Addie' (p.160, letter p.82).  Wynn from Zakka Art is posting about this block.  She's a hand piecing expert and is always drawn to the prettiest fabric combinations so I can't wait to see how she puts this block together.  

I found this quite a straightforward block to piece although I did resort to glue basting to get the seams points to meet up.

Here's the second block, 'Aimee' p.161, letter p.20: 

 I foundation pieced this block.  This is how I set out my materials at the beginning of a block.  I print out the foundation pattern and keep the schema section to write notes on.   I crease all the seam lines with a hera marker (see this post for equipment ideas); this makes it easier to flip each part of the blocks section around as the fabric is added.  Then, I cut out the sections, leaving seam allowances intact and not trimming the corners.  You can download a free guide to foundation paper piecing here.

I am quite precise when I foundation paper piece.  I don't like adding huge chunks of fabric to each tiny section.  Instead I pre-cut the fabric that I am adding.  I allow around ⅜" to ½" around the seam lines for each piece so that the piece of fabric is always bigger than needed.  If you want to use the same method, my cutting suggestions are below.  You may want to cut bigger, it's personal preference and technique that is determining the size I choose.  I have not specified which fabric you will be cutting from, it depends on how many colours you use, it may also help to add a little colour pencil so you know which colour each piece will be:

Foundation Paper Piecing Fabric Cutting
A1, B1, A3, B3: Cut (4) 2" x 3 ¼"
A2, A4, B2, B4: Cut (4) 2 ½" 1/2" x 2 ¾"
E1,E6, F1, F6: Cut (1) 3" square- cut along diagonals to make quarter-square triangles.
C2, D2, E3, F3: Cut (4) 1 ½" x 4 ¼"
C3, C4, D3, D4, E2, E5, F2, F5: Cut (4) 2 ½" squares and cut each in half  diagonally
C1, D1, E4, F4: Cut 2 (3 ½" squares and cut each in half diagonally
E1, E6, F1, F6; Cut (2) 3" squares and cut each in half diagonally

These shapes are all rectangles, squares or right angled triangles.  To get the fabric into a shape with the correct angle to match the diagonal that it is being joined to, I either trace a quick freezer paper template ( see here for explanation of this method), or I lie the fabric under the paper pattern pieces, flip the paper back and use my Add-a-quarter ruler to cut one sides t, making the seam allowance a little bigger.  This method works well with solids as there is no right side, you do need to take more care with prints.

I've just repeated the same process here on the rectangle that will become B3.  I am trimming it on the right side, the piece can then flip over and the trimmed side will be sewn on to piece B2.

This method keeps the grain lines straight and if done carefully can allow you to play a little with directional print, as with this floral Penny's Doll'shouse print.

Here's the same procedure for piece F3.  I am trimming the diagonal on the right, then flipping the fabric over so the trimmed piece will fit the same angle that joins onto piece F2.

The seam points are a little tricky on these blocks.  I tear the paper off and mark the seam allowances at key meeting points so I know where to pin.  Glue basting with Elmer's School glue is very helpful.  The order of piecing on the paper patterns is not always what I would choose- in foundation piecing sometimes you need to piece in a particular order, other times it's down to personal preference but it all works.  I add my first piece using a swipe of Sewline glue to hold it in place, trim the next edge with the add-a-quarter ruler and add the next piece.

I hope those tips help.  Any questions, please comment and I'll answer below.  The letter for the Aimee block (p.20) is about books.  Saving pennies to buy books and the pleasure of escaping to a make-believe world. I rarely read fiction, although my degree is in English Literanture and I used to love reading.  These days I lean towards audio books and they tend to be either funny memoir- I love David Sedaris' writing, or factual, I'm currently starting Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed  on audible.   I have a Kate Atkinson's paperback, Life After Life sitting ready to read and inspired by Bookworm of Wisonsin, I think I'll get started on it this week.

• Feel free to share your current reading matter in the comments.  Don't forget to use #fw1930sqal on Instagram and the Flickr group if you like to share there.  
• You can also copy and paste links to any blog posts you do on these blocks in the comments and I'd love to visit and take a look. 
• I'll be introducing this post on Periscope with a short broadcast  around 2pm GMT today and it'll be available for 24 hours to replay before it disappears! Link will be in my twitter feed @verykb

Don't forget to visit Wynn's post on block 1, Addie.  Back next Monday with Charise and blocks 3 and 4.

September at Village Haberdashery

It's definitely transition time with fabrics and dressmaking.  I know my daughter jokes that it is PSL season- Pumpkin Spiced Latte, for teens posting on social media this gets a lot of mentions and it is a marker of the move to Autumn and Fall for the Northern Hemisphere.  So, I'm having a look at new arrivals at Village Haberdashery, and I'm getting a bit of an Autumnal feel from some of the new colours and styles! 

Cloud9 seem to have a  some great designers on their books at the moment- there's Anna Graham's Rainwalk collection and I am hotly awaiting Aneela Hoey's new collection, Vignette which includes double gauze!  Meanwhile, Landscape, the first collection for Cloud9 by Ink & Spindle 

You can buy all the prints in a fat quarter bundle, or individually and build your own bundle.  As with all Cloud9 fabrics, they are printed on organic cotton.  I really like the navy print. 

Anna Maria Horner has a yarn dyed woven range out called Loominous which has taken a while to get to the UK but judging by its apparent suitability for clothing as well as quilting, I think it's going to be very popular - Annie has some brilliant inspirational picture examples here. 

For clothing, the bigger prints appeal to me the most, especially the Big Love check in Midnight and Candy.  Simple shapes like the Grainline Scout T make the post of the pattern and reduce and tricky pattern matching.  The Alder Dress also works well as do many children's clothing patterns.

  Traffic is another print that I've also enjoyed seeing in clothing,  the Sailor Top by Fancy Tiger Crafts.   

The Loominous fabrics are standard quilting width (44"/112cm).

Annie has had a tonne of heavy weight cotton webbing arrive in just about every colour you can imagine and a choice of widths too. 

This pic is from Annie's Instagram feed @vhaberdashery.  She's posted a super simple quick tutorial on the shop blog to make a 5 minute webbing belt.  You can find the belt hardwear here.

Lots of new dressmaking patterns have been released this month.  Green Bee (Alexia Abegg's pattern line) has the Pearl Dress, a simple shift shape, elevated with a  henley button placket detail and  also a scalloped yoke option- I am a big fan of the button placket!   

It looks like it could be easily shortened to be a top too and there are lots of fastening options- pullover, zip or button.   The new Deer and Doe patterns can be bought from the Village Haberdashery but not online- call or email to arrange mail order and I'm sure the latest Grainline patterns wardrobe basic, the Lark Tee will be arriving any time!

Other notable arrivals include some very nice quality lingerie elastics. There's fold over elastic in a multitude of colours and is great for edging knickers, bras and cami style tops, but also for making quick and easy hair bands ties and baby hair bands.

There's also lacey lingerie elastic, I love this stuff for knickers- there are many colours, I ordered grey and white but there are so many to choose from.  I usually allow around 1.5-2 metres for each pair of knickers, I always think it looks like more than you would think! 

Enjoy! x

Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt Along: Equipment Suggestions

Welcome to the third preparation post for the 1930s Farmer's Wife Quilt Along.  The first was a two-parter about fabric choices- see here and here.  This post is about the sort of extra equipment you may want to considering addition to your usual supplies - quilt ruler, rotary cutter, thread etc.  I've compiled three lists for three different construction methods: foundation paper piecing, template piecing (hand sewn or machine) and English paper piecing. These are just my personal suggestions, they are not sponsored or affiliate based.  Keep an eye out on Periscope today too, I'm hoping to talk about some of this equipment in my first live interactive broadcast, as Periscope is related to twitter you'll find me on both as @verykb on there and I'll post on Twitter when I go live.  **Edited to add I did manage to record my first scope only to delete it accidentally straight after, I did mange to say hello to some familiar and new faces and I hope to have a better handle of it by Monday! ** If you have other suggestions about equipment and gadgets, please leave a comment at the end of this post to share!  

Foundation Paper Piecing:

I plan to foundation paper piece all my blocks and these are my essentials!

From left to right:

• Paper for printing patterns.  So far, each block has taken two sheets of paper for the foundation pattern pieces so that's going to be around 200 sheets of paper if you are making all the blocks.  You could use the excellent foundation paper by Carol Doak for CT publishing, or the vellum paper- I am a fan of both, but I am using very thin budget printer/copier paper. It is so thin, I need to feed the sheets individually into my laser printer so it doesn't get mashed up but it does the job and is easily available on eBay or in local shops.  
• Add-a-Quarter ruler.  I am a recent convert to these, you can see my review of one here.  It is a quilt ruler with a quarter-inch lip and helps to trim seams whilst foundation paper piecing.  I also use it for templates (see below).  It stays in place and I find it safer to use than a standard quilt ruler and I am less likely to slice my finger tips!  Available in online quilt shops, there's a variety of lengths etc. 
•  Elmer's Glue for glue basting seams.  There are some tricky seams to join in some of these blocks with many seam points to match up and glue basting is a great help.  Elmer's washable school glue isa USA phenomenon but I've bought it on Amazon UK and and I decant mine into tiny bottles (eBay) that crafters use for glueing gems- they come with a thin metal nozzle and aren't expensive. Tiny dots of glue are used on the seams and then the seam is heat set with the iron before sewing.  The seam will also open up relatively easily afterwards if you want to press open. Sharon Schamber is  is queen of glue basting and her daughter Cristy sell supplies.
• Sharp machine needles.  I like either Schmetz Microtex 70, especially for finer fabrics like lawn or Superior needles 80 which are titanium making them hardwearing and long lasting.  I keep my paper needles separate from my other needles.
• Hera Marker or blunt smooth blade butter knife  I use these to score and pre-crease the seam lines on the pattern pieces.  It makes it easier to flip the paper back and forth and helps when pre cutting your fabric for the different pieces.
• Revolving cutting mat.  This is a bit of a luxury  but I find it really handy.  Not everyone likes them and you need sufficient room for it to rotate.  I've just ordered a tiny Fiskars mat specifically for these little 6" blocks.   Amazon and eBay are good sources.

Templates

There are a few options with templates.  You may choose to print out the templates from the CD onto card or printer paper and cut them out with or without seam allowances but there are other options left to right:

• Sandpaper covered board. This is a homemade item.  I use a hard cover from an A4 notebook, a sheet of very fine sand paper and double sided tape to join the two together.  You then place your fabric right side down on the board, your template on top and the sand paper allows you to draw round the fabric without anything shifting.  Its a very handy basic bit of kit.
• Elmer's Glue.  See above!
• Sewline Pencil with ceramic lead.  I find these drawn on fabric without dragging.  Many people use standard soft pencils e.g a B lead. 
• Template plastic.  You may instead choose to trace your templates onto template plastic- I use a mix of bought template plastic and recycling notebook overs.
• Add-a-Quarter ruler  See above.  Especially useful for either adding quarter inch to fabric shapes that are drawn with no seam allowances.
• Revolving cutting mat.  See above.

English Paper Piecing

Jo Avery of My Bear Paw is English Paper Piecing her blocks and using the templates to make her paper pieces.  You can see her first block here.  She'll be doing a number of guest posts for the quilt along and is posting her blocks on Instagram, she's @mybearpaw.  I've only included a couple of extras to help with English Paper piecing:

• Needles.  These are very much a personal choice but good quality needles make a huge difference.   For hand piecing, I use Jeana Kimball's Foxglove Cottage straw needles.  These are quite long and flexible and not really suitable for EPP but the sharps needles are sturdier.   You can find Foxglove Cottage needles at sewhot.co.uk.   Lots of people like Tulip Needles- available at Sewandquilt
• Sewline Glue Stick.  Glue basting instead of thread basting can speed up the preparation in English paper piecing and this is my favourite temporary glue.   I only use a little dash as the fabric can adhere to the paper quite firmly sometimes.  I've got a tutorial here on how I glue baste.

Whatever method you are planning to use for your blocks, I hope you find something of use here.  I've aimed to keep it low cost and faff free rather than buying lots of expensive kit.  Remember to check into the errata page before you start a block in case there's anything extra you need to watch out for, otherwise, I'll see you 14th September with the first guest blogger, meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at the quilt along schedule for September:

 14th September

Block 1 Addie : Wynn of Zakka Art

Block 2 Aimee : Me

21st September 

Block 3 Alice : Me

Block 4 Ann Charise of Charise creates

28th September

Block 5 Anne : Jo of A Life in Lists

Block 6 April : Me