Picnic time!

Summer is here, people!!! After the longest winter in the history of the earth, and the shortest ever spring, I am so very pleased that summer has finally arrived! Hooray! 

What better time to enjoy a picnic in the sun by the Thames? For a change of scenery, we visited the lovely town of Marlow, and sat by the Marlow lock, watching the world go by. 

As soon as I bought this beautifully bright cotton fabric (all 5 yards for £5! can you believe it?!), I knew that I wanted to make a copycat of Betty's floral dress which was worn in two different episodes in Season 2 of Mad Men:

Photo from http://www.tomandlorenzo.com

Having looked through my pattern stash, disappointingly I could not see anything that fitted the bill. So with sleeves rolled up, I drafted the pattern with a simple gathered rectangle skirt, with a princess lined bodice. I then added self-fabric spaghetti straps, with a couple of little bows as decorative details. All in all it took me a day to complete this project, and I had to wear it to my own picnic today!

I also made the picnic blanket last week, in one of the evenings. I used a 1.5m x 1.5m piece of cotton fabric which was leftover from my peplum dress, matched by some hardwearing outdoor fabric of the same size to make it more stain/water-proof. I stitched all four edges but about 10cm with right sides together, clipped corners, turned around and top stitched the edges again. Basically I made a baby blanket again, but with non-baby friendly fabric this time! 

What's on my sewing blackboard

I'm  not even speaking metaphorically!  

Do you see all the lovely rulers? Isn't it just fitting (get it?) for a sewing space? 

To complete the tailoring theme, I also tracked down a lovely photo frame!  

Do you have any sewing-related home furnishing items, too? Or is it just me that's this obsessed? 

Have a lovely week everyone! XX

Tutorial: how to add lining to a skirt with waistband

As promised when I shared my ultimate work skirt with you, here is a tutorial on how I added lining to the skirt when the pattern did not call for one, with the added waistband. If you are not using a waistband, I hope this could still be useful but you would have to pick and choose the relevant steps.

The pattern I used was McCalls 3830 -- if you haven't tried this already, please do! It has quickly become one of my favourites, as it's so simple but gives great results.

Please allow me to say that the steps below set out how I added lining to McCalls 3830, mainly by studying a RTW skirt that I had. This method may well not be the right or only way to achieve this, but as it worked for me, I thought I would share it in case it would be of help to someone.

Before we start, you may want to decide whether you want to make any design changes. I added a waistband by following this helpful tutorial on Coletterie here. My waistband was 2.5cm wide, but if I were to do this again, I would widen it to maybe 3cm or 3.5cm.

Now the lining. You will need the same amount of lining fabric as the fashion fabric. To choose lining fabric, broadly anything that is marked as "lining" in the shop should work. However I tend to go for lightweight/thin and silky material (a faux habotai, or a lightweight satin), and if they are anti-static, that also helps. You could try and match the colours, contrast it, or insert some funky lining that no one would be expecting -- anything goes!

Part A: Making the skirt and waistband 

I have not gone into that much detail here, as each skirt pattern is different, so the key is to follow the pattern instructions.   

Step 1: Make darts, stitch skirt sections together, leaving room at the top of the centre back seams for the zip

Step 2: Stitch waistband sections (after interfacing them) together, leaving the centre back open. Do the same for waistband facing sections

Step 3: Attach waistband and facing right side together at the top edge 

Step 4: Attach skirt to waistband with right side together

Step 5: With the waistband facing flipped out (see picture below), insert the zip ensuring that the top edge comes in slightly below the top of the waistband (rather than the facing)

After step 5, your skirt should look something like this:

Part B: Prepare the lining 

Step 6: Cut the lining pieces
I used the skirt pattern pieces, without any change. I lay the pattern pieces so that the centre back seams of the skirt fall right on the selvage of the lining fabric. I often find that lining fabric frays very badly, so using the selvage would make your job a lot easier later on.

Step 7: Make tucks rather than darts in lining pieces
One thing that I noted from examining my RTW skirt was that whilst the skirt pieces had darts to fit the contour of the body, the lining pieces adjusted for this by tucks, leaving more ease and flexibility in the lining. So I did the same, and it worked. That said, I think if you made darts in the lining pieces to match the skirt pieces, that should not be an issue, either.

Step 8: Stitch lining sections together, leaving space at the top of the centre back just slightly longer than the zip length. 

Part C: Attach lining to skirt

Step 9: Turn the skirt inside out, flip the waistband facing back inside the skirt. Pin the facing to skirt with wrong sides together. 

When you are close to the centre back, where the seams are folded over, pin as far as you can, leaving a small gap. 

Step 10: Sew as pinned. 

 Step 11: Hand finish the small gap close to the zipper

Step 12: Slip stitch the lining to the zipper tape, leaving extra room at the bottom for the tab 

Part D: Finishing touches

Step 13: Press 1.3cm if you are using a 1.5cm seam allowances throughout (or just a slightly narrower seam than whatever you are using) down on the open edge of the waistband facing. 

Step 14: Fold the waistband facing to the inside of the skirt, overlapping the folded edge over the seams (bottom of waistband and top of skirt). Pin on the right side of the skirt. 

 This is what it looks like on the inside:

Step 15: Stitch on the right side of the skirt. I went very slowly so that the stitching fell right into the previous stitching line so it's almost invisible

Step 16: Hem

I pinned the hemline for the skirt layer first, blind catchstitching it by hand (see Sherry's tutorial here). Then I pinned the skirt lining to be a tad shorter than the skirt itself, so it won't be seen easily when I'm wearing it (despite a part of me wanting to show off the beautiful lining!)

Can you see how the pinned lining ends slightly above the skirt hem?

And there you have it! A fully lined skirt with a waistband! Give me a shout if you have any questions or would like to share your experience :)

And the winner is...

...Sassy T from Thread Noir! 

Congratulations! Please email me your postal address and I look forward to seeing what you make from this wonderful pattern :) 

Thank you for everyone who has taken part. There will be a couple more giveaways to come in the next few months, so watch this space.

Ultimate work skirt - McCalls 3830 v2!

There we go, my second version of McCalls 3830. I've called it the ultimate work skirt, as I have tried to address all the issues that came out of the last version/wearable toile, and I am really happy with how it's turned out. I finished it last weekend, and have already worn it to a meeting on Tuesday! 

The most obvious change that I made was adding a 2.5cm waistband, by following the really helpful tutorial on Coletterie here. After studying one of my RTW skirts with a waistband, I went slowly and topstitched the waistband right on the previous stitching line, so the second stitching line is almost invisible.   

I also added a aubergine satin lining, so that the skirt doesn't ride up or stick to my tights. I was surprised by how much difference this made - the skirt feels so much more expensive! I'm going to add a tutorial on how I did this (basically by studying that RTW skirt and copying it) later on in case this was helpful to anyone. 

I did a blind catchstitch for the hem, and the stitch is actually completely invisible from both sides! 

I did a slipstitch to attach the lining to the zipper, so that's also invisible :)

For the centre zipper, I basted it first on the wrong side, and then stitched on the right side to get the stitching nice and balanced. 

The grey fabric I used was from John Lewis's remnant bin - it was a polyester and viscose blend, and the piece was only 70cm wide, which was actually more than enough for View D (at size 4). This small piece of fabric cost me a mere £4.18 precisely, cheap as chips. The satin was also from John Lewis, and I'm pretty sure that was at a reasonable £3 a metre in the sale, too. Overall it turned out to be a cheap and cheerful skirt, but one that I think will make a great work wardrobe staple. 

Navy work skirt - McCalls 3830 v1

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and for those in the UK, a fantastic long weekend in the sun! I feel so much better now after my post last week re our lack of Labour Day celebration (but hey, I did attempt to cheer you up with a GIVEAWAY - which is still open till this Saturday - be quick!), getting a bit of sunshine, and an extra day off today :) 

My first version of the very popular McCalls 3830 skirt in navy, and (almost) straight from the envelope! 

This was supposed to be a toile, which I made from a lovely piece of suiting from my Walthamstowe trip last year, which was all purchased for £1.50 per metre!!! (I have no idea what material it is, but it's soft and drapes beautifully.) However, as the fit worked just fine, with no adjustment needed, and not to mention the fact that I love the fabric, I decided to finish off the skirt and wore it to work!

I said that it was "(almost)" straight out of the envelope, because I did scale the pattern down to a size 4 for view E. But other than that, it worked a treat. 

I liked the shape of the skirt, but as I wanted a formal-ish looking work skirt (as part of my grand plan to make more "everyday" clothes), I did quiet a narrow hem so that it finished not too much above the knees (version E is really quite short if I did the hem that was suggested). 

I did feel that a waistband is sort of missing, so I have added one to my version 2 (yep, you read that right, I have already done a version 2 - thank you Bank Holiday!). Also, as I didn't line this version (the pattern does not call for lining), it does have a slight tendency for the skirt to stick to the tights. No biggie though - it's not stopping me from liking this simple little skirt!

Crazy about coral

Finally, spring has sprung, and I have gone a bit coral crazy. I bought some polka dot coral jeans, coral pumps, coral scarves, and a coral Kindle cover. Still, I had a feeling that something was missing... Then I remembered, I have a lovely jazzy viscose in my fabric stash from my local Fabricland, so it's time to turn it into a top to complete my outfit!

Obsessed much?!

It's a simple, basic top. Although the fabric is quite "busy" looking, I think it will be great teamed with plain jeans (I doubt I would wear the above outfit out... or perhaps with a jacket.)

I used New Look 6483, which claims to be a "1 hour easy" pattern. Erm... I don't remember signing up for the Great British Sewing Bee!! Speed-sewing is not my speciality, and let me tell you, it certainly took me over an hour of sewing time to knock this little number together. Just setting the sleeves in and finishing off the neckline would've taken me longer than a mere hour. Maybe I'm just inefficient though, and sew much more slowly than the average. 

The pattern runs from size 6 to 16. My experience of New Look patterns has been that they run a bit on the large size, so I scaled it down to a size 2 instead, and also took the side seams in by 1cm on each side. 

I made a view A, as I liked the simple design. I lowered the neckline though (by using a similar RTW top as a guide), as when I made up the top per the pattern, the finished neckline was choking me! Thankfully I used the single-fold self-fabric bias tape as a facing (rather than using the facing pattern) for the neckline, so it was easy enough to adjust. I also shortened the top by a couple of cms. 

The back has a button closure - it would've been functional if you followed the pattern, but now as I lowered the front and back neckline, I no longer need to undo the button to get the top over my head. Still, I think it is a nice touch. 

I was happy with what I ended up with. It's a fun, simple top which can be worn in a few different outfits. I was particularly happy with the pattern matching on the fabric. The side and back seams all line up nicely, and the pattern flows all the way round. I also really love viscose, especially as a light, summery and comfy fabric. 

And look, it must be that time of year again - my favourite tree in the garden is blossoming :)

Happy spring everyone (or happy autumn, if you are down under!) X