linen | bluesewncat

Winter blues

Posted on September 27, 2013 by bluesewncat

So I’ve made a top, and attempted another self photoshoot. A while ago I was one of the prize winners for Dixie’s give away, although there probably aren’t very many Niamh’s on the sewing blogosphere… Back to the top. The first thing I’ve made from the book. At the same time I was going into my sewing course and I hadn’t done any sewing in weeks, I’m ashamed to say. I blame my art course, I was too busy drawing. So I needed something easy with guaranteed ease. I picked a simple smock dress, very Japanese style, I ended up not having enough fabric so I cut things short, literally. I’m really happy with the finished piece. I made it in a drapey linen, from the secret stash of mum, I just found this on my bed this morning and it was declared mine. Moral of the story, don’t put stuff on my bed and expect to get it back! The only thing I will say about this top is that it’s really wide… I did make a large but that was armholes and shoulders would have a chance of fitting, it’s completely oversized, the actual measurements for a large is for a smaller person yet this dwarfs me, lots of swinging has resulted with the extra fabric.

I also wanted to apologize if I look like a depressed teenager, the weather was fairly dull that day, but the light was really white, hence the photos. I’m still working the whole self timer thing, I need to figure out to make self timer last for more then one go, and the manual has been missing since….forever. The socks shot was more of a fluke but I liked the look of it so I thought I’d throw it in as part of a group. Enjoy your weekend!

Fairy Fashion

Posted on August 16, 2013 by bluesewncat

I made myself a top, a camisole. It was a supposedly really simple make. My original idea was to have a rectangle shape and then dart in the excess. I ended up taking in the side seams and back seams as well though, Then for the final version I made the top way too tight and made it while rushing and cursing, since I wanted to wear the top to meet up with my friends. I managed to finish but whether it’s finished well is another story…On going with my process post I thought I’d show some more of what went on behind the scenes with this top..

First I came up with my design. I’ve recently found this blog and it’s made me want to make lots of loose whimsical lace dresses! Since I don’t wear a lot of dresses I thought a simple camisole top would satisfy my need for some whimsical fashion. I’ve also been wanting to make a camisole for at least a year as well. I made up this spec sheet to show the tops design features. Then I made up a calico, or toile, of my pattern, made some adjustments and then the real thing… The fabric was a remnant that I got a little over a year ago (yay stashbusting!) And then I used some cotton lace for the straps. The neckline is straight across the front and back so I used a facing to get a better finish.

Also did my first shoot where I took the photos as well as posed for them (my mum is my photographer) I’m pretty happy with how the pictures turned out as self timer was interesting and the rose-bush in my back garden managed to scrape me several times, not to mention the shoot was cut short as it started raining really heavily very quickly. I’m doing another course at the moment so I have some new designs, newer garments and some crochet inspired pieces too.. Back soon!

Birthday top

Posted on June 8, 2013 by bluesewncat

I have a new top! With sleeves, and my own dyed creation. There were small hints to this during me-made-may. I originally had a dress planned for my birthday,as my new tradition is to make or wear something new for my birthday, this year was no different.. The day before my birthday my dress was looking frumpy and unwearable so I changed tactics. The day before that I had dyed a ton of fabric (didn’t you know summer was fabric dying season!) including some natural linen. I was pondering a simple scout, and that’s what I made. I added in some improv pleats at the shoulders for a bit of difference and some cute floral binding from my stash that I bought in Paris,and voila, birthday girl content!The fabric was a bit of an experiment. It was a natural linen that I got from my nana that has been lingering in my stash waiting for it’s time to shine. I had forgotten about the fabric altogether since it was plain and boring and white, I’m not a fan of un-patterned white, easy to stain, not much interest, I’m more of colourful person. So it was forgotten, until I was tidying fabrics into a new home when I stumbled on this stuff again, into the dying bucket it went! I didn’t even iron the thoroughly creased linen, but this only created more interest. Now it has futuristic lines where the fabric was creased. I’m super happy with the final result. The pattern is grainline’s scout t-shirt, but not really.It’s been subjected to my terrible grading and the sleeves were lost so I used my sleeve blocks. This version was actually based on this tank from last year. The pattern still fits well thankfully! I’m also wearing this necklace.

On another note I’m going to the grafton next week! I finally get to make a super cool woven fabric jacket, like this but for way way less! I also loved it being worn by this girl too! Think brown and black wools, slightly lightweight = a nice transition jacket for spring or Irish summers, although this summer has been amazing so far, I know most people would consider 20 degrees as cold-ish but in Ireland it’s perfect beach weather! I’ll have more news soon, but for the moment I’ll leave with this track that I’ve been currently obsessing with.

Print Shirt

Posted on December 1, 2012 by bluesewncat

I made a new shirt. Sorry about not posting about the fabric shops but I still have to edit it and make the post look good. Back to the shirt, I made the pattern in, no surprise, the Grafton Academy. This was however my first piece that I made during my evening course. The hardest thing about this pattern was the covered placket (the fact that you can’t see the buttons). Since the pattern of the fabric is so busy I didn’t want to complicate it with showing buttons. I kept the darts small, shape wide and the collar minimal. Over all I’m happy with the result but I kinda wish that the linen draped better. I got some really nice black silk in Paris, so maybe my next version….

Please ignore the broken laundry basket in the corner. Well, surprise surprise, the fabric is from murphy sheehy’s. I think i’m slightly obsessed with that shop. I got this back during my summer holidays. It’s a lightweight linen which I got for €7 a meter, I got a meter and a half. I bought this with the intent to make a blouse really similar to this. I only had a meter and a half so squeezing the pattern onto the amount of fabric that I had. There’s a small bit of patching but most of it’s hidden. The buttons are small shell ones, you can’t see them but they work.

Sorry about the slightly fuzzy pictures and weird faces. My ~~mom~~ photographer fell on her hand and is now in a cast so blog photo quality is slightly off the ajenda.

My cardigan is finished so I should have photos by next week. I’m so excited, I’m doing a week of work experience in John Rocha next week! Oh, outfit choices gallore! Can’t wait, I’ll do more updates soon.