First Make of 2024: a pretty pencil case

The first item I've made for myself in 2024 is unusual for me -- I've made a pencil case! I don't often make small things like this, but I really needed a pouch for my nice pens that would stay with my bullet journal. When I was putting together the list of free Christmas project ideas, this little Burda pattern stuck with me. I have the original magazine so used that, but you can also find this pencil case pattern on the Burda website. 

It was quite straightforward. I used two pieces of cotton that are stuck together with fusible, then you wrap them around and stitch a zipper in. I had a gorgeous rainbow zip that was perfect for this, although it was a bit shorter than the pattern called for. Fortunately, I was planning on shortening the pouch anyhow, since my notebook was a bit smaller than it was designed for. The zip was 7/8" shorter than the pattern wanted so I shortened my pattern pieces (rectangles) by the same amount. 

The only difficulty I ran into was stitching the zip in. Although the pattern doesn't say so, I think that a separating zip would be a LOT easier to install. As it is, I just stitched the last inch or so of the second side down by hand, since I couldn't twist the little tube around enough to manage by machine. It was pretty quick, although I do recommed a thimble since you're stitching through two layers of stiffened cotton plus a zipper tape. 

The extra cool thing about this pattern is that there is elastic sewn in to the ends, so that you can loop it around your notebook. This helps me to keep it closed, and to have a nice pen and anything else I might need handy at all times. 

I really loved the combo of the brand new fat quarter that I used for the outside, with its astronomical theme, and the lining which was a very old marbled print cotton in the same colour tones. They match nicely with this year's notebook, too! 

What a fun way to start the sewing year, by making something that will help to keep me organized. I really enjoyed making this, and love using it, too! 

Fun, free patterns for holiday sewing

I like to make a few gifts here and there every year. This year I haven't done much, but I always like to collect a few potential ideas! So I thought I'd share a few of the interesting patterns out there that I've found that are pretty quick and easy gift ideas. 

There are quite a lot of accessories available for free on the Burda website at the moment. There are a couple of very cute bags which were all in varied Burda issues, but can also be downloaded for free! These range from an adorable crossbody bag to a croissant bag to some denim minipurses (and more).

There are some cool little stocking stuffer ideas too, like a coffee cup holder, a hair wrap, cosmetic bag or even super sweet miniature egg cozies ;) There are tons more placemats, hair bows, pincushions, shawls, slippers and much more! 

One of the more fun and unusual things I saw in Burda is a balaclava -- basically a hooded scarf. It's so cute and doesn't require any fitting. Also it's a little different from the usual scarf. You could add in some quick mittens to make a winter set for a gift recipient, too. 

If you want to give some home dec, Burda also has some decor patterns from the latest December issue  available for free right now. You could make your own stuffed Christmas tree or a lovely scrappy star cushion.

Of course there are tons of places other than Burda to find free gift ideas! 

Heather Handmade has a list of 50 gift ideas, from home goods to bookmarks, bags and more -- plus extra links to other gift lists. 

Of course there are tons of ideas on Pinterest - for a bit more guidance, try this board full of small free sewing projects collected by SewCanShe. 

Vanessa from Diyncrafts put together a list of some free, quick ideas that includes some more unusual ideas. 

Fabricville Canada has some fun projects available for free, both sewing and more crafty. And Fabricland Canada has some fab free projects on their blog, too. 

Hello Sewing has a collection of interesting small gifts to try out. 

Diary of a Quilter has a list of quick last minute gifts, many of which are free tutorials. 

Or, if you prefer to listen to suggested holiday gifts (not all free), you can check out a couple of recent podcasts: 

Seamwork Radio's 50 Ideas for Handmade Holiday Gifts

Sewcial Hour's DIY Christmas Magic

or even the classic Love to Sew "Sewing Gifts" episode from 2019

Whatever you choose, don't stress out and have fun this holiday season! 

(and if you have any fave gift projects to share, please leave them in the comments)

Another Mandy!

When I was recently making the free Athina Top from Tessuti, I started thinking about some of their other free patterns... namely the Mandy Boat Tee, which I've made a few times now. This is one of my fave t-shirt patterns, as I like the silhouette and fit, and it's really the only kind of 'tee' I wear.

Well, this seemed to be the perfect fit for this piece of lovely soft knit I had in my stash. I received this fabric from a library patron who knows I sew; she was clearing out her stash a bit and thought that this print would be perfect for a librarian. She was right! 

I was pleased to find that there was enough fabric here for the Mandy, with just a sliver left over. I cut it carefully, trying to get the centre line of the print down the centre of the front and back. I think it worked! I really like how comfortable this top is, and in this super soft knit it's really fabulous.

I made it with the minor fit changes I have figured out for myself - basically adding 1/2" width to each sleeve at the seam, and making the neckline slightly narrower. The neckline finish is a nice touch, with a dart of sorts put in at the side seams of the neckline; it makes it sit so smoothly. Something to note is that this pattern does have quite limited sizing.

The only small difficulty I have with it is that the fabric is so very soft and stretchy (maybe a bamboo knit?) that it has grown a little in the 3 times I've worn it since I finished it. The hem is a little longer than it was originally! Otherwise I really love it, and hope that the patron who gave me the fabric will pop back into the library on one of the days that I'm wearing this :)

Highlighter Yellow Athina Top

Last week I decided to make an Athina Top from Tessuti, inspired mainly by the #SewFrugal23 challenge on IG. I always enjoy sewing up free patterns & have had this one for a long time, but never made it. Now I have! 

The Athina top is a boxy, oversized tunic kind of top, and I decided to make it from a bright highlighter yellow linen in my stash. I have a lot of this particular linen, and decided it would work nicely for this project. Looking online at some examples of others makes of this pattern, I noticed that quite a few people had added one angled patch pocket, apparently inspired by an Elisabeth Susann piece. I really like the look so copied it, freehanding a pocket slightly smaller than some of the other ones out there. It's my favourite thing about the top now! 

This is quite oversized - I cut a medium, and added some extra width at the hip. But when I sewed it up, I ended up taking 3/4" out of each side, sort of narrowing up the sides until the underarm point. And I think that next time I make it, I will most likely take an inch out of the centre front and back, just to reduce the billowy effect of it! Made it a drapier fabric and a little bit smaller, it will look a bit more like the sample photos. But overall I like this, and despite the linen wrinkles I think I'll enjoy wearing it. I love yellow and this will go with so many of my current pieces. 

The sizing on this free pattern is limited, there's only a range of XS-XL, and as I noted, I fall into the Medium range (although with the generous fit, I could probably make the S). I love their free tee, the Mandy, and now have a similar woven style that I think could also be a new stalwart in my closet. 

Pirate Pencil Skirt, in Black but No Skull or Crossbones

As part of my "Summer Capsule" plans, I included a black knit pencil skirt as a basic bottom. I chose the Pirate Pencil Skirt by Patterns for Pirates, both because it's a closely fitted knit skirt, and because it's a free pattern! 

This one really is a quick and easy as everyone says it is. There is a front piece and back piece, both cut on the fold, and a waistband that is just a folded piece of knit, no elastic involved. I made the high waist option, my fave style. There's also a walking slit for the below the knee options but I left it out. My knit is stretchy enough not to worry about it. Also my legs are short ;)

I cut this out and sewed it up in one night. The hardest part was my fabric choice. I have a bunch of this textured knit that I thrifted a while ago, and my needle just didn't like it. I switched it out a couple of times, but it was never perfect. So there is a tiny bit of puckering on the side seams, but not enough to notice so I finally just left it. 

The only thing I don't like about it is that there are no pockets, of course, in such a fitted skirt. And that waistband is a little high on me, so that the top of it rolls out a bit. I think I will reduce the height by about 1/2" if I make it again so it fits my body a little better. One other small fix is the little bulge of fabric at centre back just below the waistband -- I will need to pinch out a wedge there next time, like a swayback adjustment, so it will lie flat against my spine. 

But it could also be that my knit is too lightweight -- it's not a ponte or a scuba -- so I could have used some knit interfacing on the whole waistband piece before stitching it down. Oh well, it's good enough, which is all I am going for here. It's proof of concept, really -- this pattern fits me, cut at an XL at the hip, and L at waist and hem. I think I may make it again in a better quality fabric. 

Worn with shirt untucked, a bit more
Comfortable to breathe in 😉

Everyday Dress in Medallion Print for #FrugalFrocks

When I saw an announcement for a sewalong challenge on IG called #FrugalFrocks2021, I knew it was one for me! I love dresses, and I love sewing frugally. The challenge was to take a free dress pattern, and match it with a fabric from your stash, and then reveal your make on March 31. I'll be sharing the project tomorrow on IG; blog readers get an advance view ;) 

I have quite a number of free dress patterns in my stash. I looked through a bunch of them, but ended up returning to the Everyday Dress by In The Folds for Peppermint Magazine. I had already traced this one last year and it was ready to go. I considered the Himari Dress by Love Sewing magazine, which I also have traced out. I also thought about making another Orla Dress. And I looked at the four or five dress downloads from Mood Sewciety that I have in my queue...and the handful from Fabrics-store.com. But when I found this medallion fabric in the deep stash I knew it would have to be the Everyday Dress.

Windy bright days don't equal ideal photo conditions ;) But they are lovely.

The fabric has a crisper hand -- it's like a medium weight fabric you might use for curtains or a pillow cover. But it also had the feel and look I wanted so I just went for it! Thankfully it turned out well; the fabric holds the shape of the dress in a way that I like (a soft linen makes this dress look too droopy for my personal tastes). It's also pretty, with turquoise, darker blue, mauve and gold in the print. 

The pattern itself is a pretty quick and easy one. It's theoretically reversible, with a round neck and a v-neck. I like the V neck in front, myself. The pockets went in just in the right spot and the finishing details, both facings at neck and hem, are nicely done. I really like the hem treatment, although it does mean that you'd better know what length you want when you cut it -- you can't really chop off anything at the bottom when you're done. The hem facing is incorporated into the cut fabric, and you just fold and mitre a couple of inches at the end. It gives a neat and tidy finish, especially around the side slits. I'm impressed with it! 

Other than the required shortening of the main pattern pieces prior to cutting, I didn't have to make too many adjustments. I was planning on shortening the sleeve, but since my old fabric was only 45" wide, I wasn't given much choice about how much to shorten them! I cut them as long as possible on this fabric and as it turns out this is the perfect length for my short arms. 

This was a fast sew but a thoughtfully planned one. The pattern has good instructions and a nice finish, as mentioned. I think I may make another in a different type of fabric for a whole other look. I'm so pleased that this sewalong finally gave me the impetus to make this dress, which I downloaded and traced over a year ago. 

Can't wait for a less windy day to wear this! ;)

MariaDenmark's Sewing Life 00: a Four Seasons Dress

I'm getting ready for summer days with this quick cocoon style dress from MariaDenmark! 

This is a free pattern that you can get when you sign up for the Sewing Life magazine newsletter, run by MariaDenmark. It's a very useful, versatile dress, with four views - one for each season.

I decided to give this one a quick trial to see if the shape worked for me. I chose the Autumn version. And I used a sheet from my stash to give it a try. It's a lightweight cotton-poly percale sheet, and has the perfect weight and body for this pattern.

I cut it with the hem on the finished edge of the sheet, but found I didn't like the length when it was done, so I folded up the sheet edge and hemmed it. The extra bulk means that it puckers a little at each of the side seams -- it was too hard to gather in the already bulky edge of the folded sheet. A proper hem would not do this.

But since this was just a wearable muslin I went with it, and tried it and loved it! In fact, I love this print so much that I will definitely wear this dress as a dress!

How did I find the pattern? Well, it was very straightforward in shape, and nothing too difficult. The full instructions for each view are only given in the Sewing Life magazine, but you can download the mini-mag with the pattern when you sign up for the newsletter, as mentioned. In any case you shouldn't really need much instruction with this one unless you are a very new sewist. It is a basic 3 seam dress with a back walking slit (I shortened mine significantly) and bias facings on neck and armhole.

One big change -- I added side seam pockets. The fabric I'm using has the body to stand up to pockets well -- if you are making the knit Winter version it might not work out. I graded out a tiny bit over the hip area to give it a little more of a cocoon shape to fit my body shape as well.

The bias facing was the only part of this project that gave me trouble. The angle of the underarm made it quite difficult to attach the bias neatly. It took some manhandling to get it on nicely. But the shape and fit of the armscye make it worthwhile. I love the fit of this dress.

The walking slit is just turned under and stitched, and a plain hem is all that's required -- mine is a little bulky because of the layers of sheet but it does give it a nice weight at the bottom!

This is very comfortable and airy to wear, and I am sure it will be perfect for those hot days, once we get some (the day before these pictures it had snowed briefly!) This pattern has a great shape, and this is only one of the four views in this pattern, which are all different enough to make a distinct dress with each. Definitely good value here, check it out.

Another fun upcycling project and one that is both thrifty and surprisingly successful for me as a real, wearable garment. I even used the scraps of the sheet to make a couple of matching Boomerang Bags! The Stratford Boomerang Bag group was scheduled to have our first meeting/sewing bee on the day after the shutdown began, so we haven't really got going yet. But I am still making bags and looking forward to the day when we can all meet and sew together.

My Blue Velvet Bookstore Dress

I have been working on a new dress pattern this month, the Agnes Dress by Halla Patterns. It's a free pattern, and a simple swing dress style.

I wanted to test it out and check the fit before using my newest, fancy printed stretch velvet -- so I found some similar weight/stretch fabric in my stash and gave it a go.

I like to call this my "Blue Velvet Bookstore Dress". Why? Well, because my husband and I ran a second-hand bookshop for a few years called Chumley & Pepys Books. And this blue crushed velvet was what I bought to cover the stryrofoam sheets that we used as pinboards, and also to make a curtain to draw over the lower shelves of a counter that we used as storage. So I had a fair amount of it sitting around from those days!

This was a super easy dress. My fabric is stretchy, but maybe not as much as a rayon knit, so I could have cut it a tiny bit bigger. I used Size 10/12 and graded out to 14/16 at hip, then traced it off, and quickly cut it. I was only able to get around to sewing it on this long weekend, though! If I make it again in a similar stretch fabric, I'm going to add more width to move up to about a 14/16 bust and 18 hip though. It's a bit tight across the back for me.

Please excuse the odd way this is pulling. It was so cold out I was  shivering
while taking these last few photos! I'm sure the people driving by thought I was bonkers.

If you look at the back right shoulder closely you may note that I have a "secret seam" there -- I had to piece the top of the shoulder in order to fit it onto the length of fabric that used to be a curtain ;)

I just hemmed the sleeve although the pattern has an option for a sleeve band as well as various sleeve lengths. And I added the neckband and for once it worked out the first time! I think I just have to give it a little press and maybe a topstitch to keep it smooth.

The only flaw is that the pockets -- while they do exist! -- are a bit small for my hands. I think I'll use my default pocket piece in future. Otherwise I quite like this pattern, although I feel that it is one size too small for comfortable wearing, at least for me. It's a bit too clingy; I'll go up one size and perhaps use a fabric that has a bit more stretch next time around. But I love the colour and the fit in general, and I do think I'll be making this one again. It's a fairly nice design for a free pattern!

Laundry Day Tee in Houndstooth

This is my third project I've tried from the Indie company Love Notions. My first was the Margot Peplum Top, which I really liked, and the Harmony Blouse was my second, though that one wasn't as much of a success for me.

 This top, the Laundry Day Tee, is a free pattern if you join their Facebook page. I liked the swing silhouette and all the many variations in this pattern, so downloaded it and have finally given it a go.

I love it! The shape is really great, and the options are inspiring. It comes in sizes XS - 5X, and has a variety of sleeve & neckline finishes.

I used a houndstooth knit that I have in my "20 for 2020" plans -- it is a lower stretch fabric so my version does fit closely around the torso, but the swing line is sharper than it would be in a drapier fabric. I love the effect.

I finished the neckline using the cowl option -- and look at this cowl!

 It's huge and certainly keeps your neck warm. It falls in really nice folds due to its volume.

At first I wasn't sure that I could manage this option, as I had limited fabric. But with some creative cutting, and a seamline along the orginal foldline of the cowl, I was able to squeeze it onto my length of fabric (probably just over 1.5 m) and thus have very, very little scrap fabric left over.

It's a perfect match for this fabric, and as a free pattern I was pleased to find that it is well made and goes together smoothly. The process is very quick once you've got your size picked -- it is two pieces, a sleeve that's sewn on flat, and your neckline finish of choice. Love Notions uses layered, no trim pdfs as well, which makes the putting together part a lot easier.

I am thinking about perhaps shortening it by another inch and bringing in the flare a tiny bit. All coming from my fabric choice. But otherwise I really like this comfortable and fun make. I do think I'll likely make a few more, at least one probably in dress length too!
 

Another quite delightful part of this project is the fact that I took these photos of my new top at my library, in front of a community art exhibit sharing my own photos of Kyiv from a visit I took in 2008. It's like a hall of mirrors...