Checkerboard Bag!

I had some fun over the last week, attending a bag making workshop put on my Garment Guild. One of our members instructed us on how to make a bag that's essentially a couple of rectangles and some tricky sewing! She had made many of these when she sold them in her craft business, and we had fun learning the trick for ourselves. 

We had to choose and bring along fabric and lining; I chose a canvas-like checkerboard that I bought from Our Social Fabric a while back, the perfect weight for a bag. I had the great luck of having some quilting cotton given to me by another participant for my lining because it looked so great! 

We inset a zip, made some straps, and stitched the shapes together. It was a bit orgami-ish but once turned right side out it looks so simple and fun! 

Inside out and ready to sew, it's a bit wild!

The great thing about this project is that it's a basic shape based pattern - the sizing depends on the zipper you use, and the strap length is up to you. It's very adaptable. Many people used two different fabrics for the top and bottom and this can give a great effect. I had such a busy print that I stuck with all the same but there were many beautiful combos shown, and they can be lightweight fabrics like batiks or even lighter if interfaced. Great way to use up scraps :) 

Learning About Dorset Buttons

This week my local Garment Guild held a workshop about how to make Dorset style buttons. I was really looking forward to it as I've always been interested in this technique. I really enjoyed the workshop but I was also surprised at how mentally taxing it was ;) 

The instructor was from the London chapter of the Canadian Embroidery Guild and was so informative and fun to learn from. We went over a brief history of thread buttons, made a classic Dorset button and a Death's Head wrapped button, and had a demo of the slightly more complicated Shirtwaist button. Just making two styles was intense! 

My Dorset Button!

I nearly finished my Dorset -- and as the instructor said, your first button is not going to be perfect! I'm planning on finishing it up with just a few more wraps. The Death's Head button was fiddly but I decided to use two colours, and since it looked pretty stark when it was done I added a couple of lazy daisy stitches to the centre. Totally not the way it should be done ;) 

Death's Head with embellishment

I love learning new things, and this is something I think I'll be exploring further. There are lots of fascinating links online, some shared in class and others that I've seen in my blog reading travels. Here are a few if you'd also like to explore! 

Needle n Thread

Henry's Buttons (UK)

Edmonton Needlecraft Guild 

Gina-B Silkworks 

Adrienne Blouse in Floral

It's always fun to set sewing challenges for my local Garment Guild. This month our challenge was to make something we found on CreativeBug -- many of our local library systems now have CreativeBug available to patrons, and I wanted our members to find out about all the goodness in this option! 

I've already made the Shirt No. 1 from 100 Acts of Sewing, thanks to CreativeBug, and so this time I thought I'd try out the very popular Adrienne Blouse by Friday Pattern Company. I've always liked it, but worried that the close fit of the body was not for me. But onwards I went, and gave it a whirl anyhow. 

As it turns out, I really love it :) I used a rayon knit from my stash; I love the print but have never been able to figure out what to do with it, as the lightweight nature of it and low stretch were always a problem to match up with a good pattern. So I gave it a go here. It is perfect! 

I traced off the size L, but as I was measuring the pattern pieces on my fabric I realized that the waist and hip were going to be far too small for my liking. Instead of just cutting a wider line at the side seams, I swung the bottom away from the fold by one inch, giving more of a swing line to the silhouette. I did the same front and back and I am glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have fit into this. So beware, other pear-shaped sewists -- make sure you grade out at the hip! If I make it again I may also add a bit at the bust, but I like the width and fit of the neckline & shoulder, so don't want to increase the sizing there. 

I absolutely love the soft flowiness of the sleeve in this lightweight knit. It feels so great. I used regular 1/2" elastic in the sleeve cuffs, but happened to have some heavier, sturdier bra elastic in my stash that I used for the shoulder gathering. I think it worked just great -- nice and solid, it doesn't stretch out too much, and holds the gathers nicely. I did use the recommended 7" length at the shoulder, but in the sleeve ends I reduced the circumference to about 9.5" so that it fit snugly on my arm, and allows the fullness to sit well in the sleeve. 

Otherwise this really was a quick sew; I cut it out one night and sewed it up the next day in a couple of hours. I am a slow sewist so like to have lots of time to work on things, even 'easy' projects. I didn't hem the bottom because I don't think my machine will give a nice result on this thin knit, even with a double needle. I don't have a walking foot or the ability to change the presser foot pressure, and this knit stretches as I sew; I had to stop and readjust it constantly for the seams. But I think it looks great, and I love the feel of it. I think it will go with a few different skirt shapes, and let me get a decent amount of wear out of it. I'm glad I finally tried it! 

Staycationing with the Penrose Top

This month my local Garment Guild set ourselves a challenge, in recognition of one year since the first lockdown, to make something we would have worn on vacation if we'd been able to take one.

My vacation choice would have been to visit my sister in Singapore, and with that in mind, I cast about for a lightweight summery top that would have helped me in the heat there! I decided on the Penrose Peasant Blouse by Sew News Magazine, which was their current free sewalong (pattern still available to download free until April 30). It's a loose and floaty design, and I paired it with a very lightweight cotton blend that I'd thrifted a while back -- it had been made into a curtain but was clearly a garment fabric.

This was a fairly quick sew. I wasn't enamoured of the separated over-boob gathers so I simply gathered the entire front in between the outer notches. It's a looser gather but I like it. If I made it again, I'd shorten the shoulder length somewhat so that the neckline is a bit higher, but it is definitely wearable and not scandalous as is ;) 

The neckline is a yoke in front but a solid back, so it's not a lined yoke - it has front and back facings. If you take care to sew evenly when attaching the facing, and reinforce the corners with a few extra stitches, you can clip right down into the corners and thus get a nice sharp edge when the facing is turned. There are no tricky bits to this one, it's a quick sew and an easy wearing toss-over-the-head top.

This fabric is smooth and airy, and so fits this pattern well. It's definitely a holiday worthy top that would have got me through some hot days. I hope that I'll be able to wear it on some local excursions this summer once our current stay-at-home orders are lifted. I think this could easily be lengthened into a swimsuit coverup or even a caftan-ish dress. Nice simple pattern!

Thrilled to Announce: the Stratford Garment Guild!

I'm thrilled to announce the creation of the new Stratford Garment Guild! Inspired by the Ottawa Garment Guild (and guided by them with some set-up information, thanks guys!) and by the Atlantic Sewing Guild, I decided that our community also needed an in-person garment sewing group.

With a handful of other local enthusiasts I went ahead and held a planning meeting and we are now pleased to announce that the Stratford Garment Guild is live and will be meeting regularly starting in September of 2019, in Stratford. More information to come as we add content to our social media accounts and website.

But for now, if you are in the Stratford, Ontario area and want to keep up on what's happening, follow us on Instagram or on Facebook.

See you in September!