I love the Great British Sewing Bee and I'm always in awe of people who can make their own clothes. I did a basic dressmaking class a few years ago and enjoyed it, but I've always thought that I will wait until I've lost weight until I try it. Fast forward a few years on anti-depressants and you get me, even bigger than before. Ah well, maybe I shouldn't wait?
I bought a copy of Sew as I've never read a sewing magazine and thought I'd give it a go. It had this free pattern with it which seems doable.
Except I'm bigger in all measurements than the sizes given. I taped on some paper, measured myself and did some (probably wrong maths) and graded the pattern.
No, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing! I didn't even google it, I just guessed! I have now cut the pattern pieces out (I'm making it from an old duvet cover so if it doesn't work it doesn't matter) and just need to sew them together....
At the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate in 2014 I feel in love with Luna Lapin, and bought the kit. Mum fell in love with her wool coat, and so did I, so she bought it for me! I started making Luna back in August, and I showed you the completed bunny, without face or tail, back in December.
Well, not only does Luna now have both face and tail, she also has clothes!
The dress kit came with the coat and I much prefer it to the t-shirt dress the Luna kit comes with, so I made this one. I did mess the collar up a bit, but it's not really that noticeable. There was a lot of tiny, fiddly binding with this one, the neck seam is bound as well as the hem of her dress.
I also did a pretty bad job with the buttons, they're not actually that skewed, her dress isn't on straight, but the top button is in a funny position. That doesn't matter though as she has her coat on, even in the house!
Ta dah! Looking back at the website where I gave you the links at the top, I've done the buttons wrong! Ah well, never mind. I love this coat and would wear it myself, if it weren't so small I can barely get my big toe in the armhole... It took me hours and hours and hours to make. I did my very best sewing and even so it's not perfect. I love the little details like the bands and buttons on the sleeves. I used my new machine to sew button holes for the first time and it was fine on the dress and sleeve bands... then I came to do the main buttonholes.
I had a real job! The sleeve was getting backed up behind the foot and stopping it moving properly so they were all different lengths, and some bad planning on my behalf meant they weren't properly lined up or were wonky. In total, I sewed a total of 20 button holes and unpicked 16!
I'm happy with that back pleat though! I should have taken a photo of the inside - the hem is all bound, as is the neck seam. Again, fiddly, tiny binding! Despite the faff, I really enjoyed making this and would like to make another Luna with some different clothes. Having looked at Cool Crafting's website, I see more clothes I want but I'm not the type to change the clothes on a toy so I'll need more rabbits!
Oh yes, that is what I made. My parents bought me a place on a basic dressmaking course at All Things Crafty and I went along a couple of weeks ago, no idea what to expect. Well, OK, clearly I realised it would involve a sewing machine and the making of a skirt, but I didn't think I'd be able to do it.
There were 10 of in the class and our sewing skills ranged from nothing to ... well, to me! We all made the same skirt using different sizes of the pattern. I used the size 16 pattern as the other 14s had already been taken and as we were only making a muslin, it didn't really matter.
We started with a lesson on how to put in a covered zipper. It was a new technique to me and it's a brilliant one! I'll be trying to shoe-horn this into bag projects in the future. See how neat it is above on my unironed fabric?
And it works! After that we moved onto the skirt pattern. We had the instructions and she let us get on with it, helping where needed so we could all work at our own pace. Mine turned out to be pretty speedy. I finished early and was the first person to have finished a skirt in that workshop! Top of the class makes a NICE change.
I hung it in my window so you could see the construction. This is the front. I sewed the two darts, apart from that, the front is a one-piece construction. The waistband is far to small for my liking, but as the skirt is too small (a size 16! Please let that be a sizing mistake!!) it doesn't really matter.
The back is made of two pieces with the zip in between. I hadn't noticed that the pieces were mirror images and so mine features a very nice dart on the outside of the skirt. Design decision!
I loved making this skirt and amazed myself that I could do it. I really wanted to make a skirt when I got home, but checking the skirt patterns in books and magazines that I have, none of the sizing was right, they just didn't do skirts wide enough for my hips. Now, I'm no stick insect, but neither am I obese. I am overweight, but at 5 foot 1, I'm not a plus size and I don't think I'm larger than the majority of other women - what are these pattern writers thinking?? You're only allowed to make clothes if you're slim and straight up and down?
I got on the internet and found some books that I thought could help. One of them is amazing, I'll tell you more about it when I've had a go, but let's just say I didn't think pattern making was that achievable...
