Snowdrops in January

Pattern: Esme tunic from the book ‘Lotte Jansdotter Everyday Style’

Fabric: Snowdrop print needlecord from Guthrie and Ghani (bought so long ago I can’t remember the name or designer of the fabric).

My first post of 2016 brings a simple shift tunic dress made with the most beautiful (to my mind anyway) fabric; a fine needlecord – perfect for winter – with a lovely pattern of snowdrops. I’ve had this fabric sat in my stash for an absolute age – Mum and I bought 2m each ages ago and it has sat in both of our fabric piles ever since, both of us reluctant to cut into it and ‘ruin’ it on a pattern it wasn’t suited too. A skirt would have been an obvious (and very pretty) option, but I really wanted to show off the fabric, top and bottom.

About a month ago I bought, on a whim, the book ‘Lotte Jansdotter Everyday Style’ by fabric designer Lotte Jansdotter. A beautiful book full of practical but pretty everyday makes – from dresses and coats to bags and jewellery- the Esme tunic dress caught my eye straight away and seemed, instantly, a perfect match for my snowdrop needlecord. I have a fair few rtw dresses and tunics similar to this dress in my wardrobe; I love the simplicity of the style and the ease of movement it provides. If I’m going to wear dresses more everyday – which I aim to – they have to be in a style which is not only pretty but which also serves a practical purpose so that I’m not reaching for my tatty old jeans every 5 minutes. Jeans have their place in my wardrobe, for painting in and for cooking work, but when I’m not painting or working I don’t want to wear them – I find they can be unflattering, seeming to shorten my already short legs and making me feel ‘mannish.’

This was a really easy peasy make; the instructions are clear and easy to follow, the pattern a simple front and back with neckline facings and then the sleeves attached.

I’m generally very pleased with this make! The only thing I will add to some future versions of this dress (for there will surely be many) would be front patch pockets, and maybe a few summery ones with short sleeves.

I have to also mention my lovely fingerless gloves, knitted for me by my mum, and which I have lived in while out and about for the past wee while. They are made using wool from our own Shetland sheep, this particular wool coming from a grey Katmoget ewe (grey Katmoget is the name given to this particular colour of Shetland sheep – all the ‘colour ways’ have fabulous Shetland names). After washing the fleeces mum combed out the wool using traditional carders and spun it into strands on her spinning wheel, finally plying (still on the wheel) two strands together to create a knit-able ball of wool. You don’t get much more homemade than that! I love this style of glove as I still have full use of my hands while wearing them. Last year, while my year group at uni were raising money towards our annual pre-degree show, mum, my aunty and my granny all made masses of these gloves for us to sell; we sold out of them in an hour! Shetland wool makes super cosy gloves – I would love a chunky cardi in a similar grey colour… The scarves I am wearing were also hand woven by mum – this time using cotton.

I (or more accurately, Scott (patiently)) took photos for this post while at yet another beach, this time Embo beach, near Dornoch in Sutherland (North East coast). The beach here is popular in the summer with it’s fantastic rock pools – as children we spent a lot of time here in the summer holidays – but in the winter it remains quiet and unpeopled, with only the odd dog walker about. It is a beautiful part of the world, just down the road from where my Aunty lives, as well as my Granny, and only a short hop from home. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the beach on a clear winter’s day is really a rather lovely place to be! These particular photos were taken on Hogmany, after a brisk walk along the beach; an altogether perfect way to spend the last day of 2015.

I hope the New Year is treating you all well!
Hannah x

A Couple of Frocks and a Circle Skirt

Two posts in one week! I thought that, seeing as the last days of 2015 are upon us, I’d do a post featuring a couple of makes I made earlier in the year, pre sewing blog days. Makes I’m pleased with and want to ‘record’ on here, but which I feel I made too long ago to justify a blog post of their own. All of these makes were made for specific events, one a Spring wedding, the other my graduation and the other an art exhibition opening.

Satin Circle Skirt

Every year the final year painters at Gray’s (School of Art) (where I studied) put on an exhibition in Edinburgh, each showcasing one piece of work as a sort of taster for the final Degree Show in June. I made this skirt for the opening night of our Pre-Degree show at St Margaret’s House in Edinburgh, back in March. Made from crepe back satin from Fabric Godmother, I followed the tutorial on By Hand London’s blog for making a circle skirt, which made working out my sizes/fabric quantities/pattern pieces really simple. The weight and drape of the fabric is lovely, creating a skirt which swished and swirled perfectly.

Vintage Roses Elisalex Dress

A sneaky peek at my sewing space

This was my first foray into By Hand London’s patterns and the first proper fitted dress I’ve made which is wearable (previous attempts at a fitted dress had resulted in excess bagginess, or, worse, me resembling a sausage stuffed into it’s skin). Despite struggling with the zip – it was ripped out and reinserted several times before I was happy – and the fit at the back where it gapes quite a lot – and which I fixed with a couple of darts – I was, and still am, super happy with this dress. The fabric – a fairly heavyweight cotton – was from Edinburgh Fabrics and is, to my mind, pretty perfect. I love the Granny chic, curtains vibe it has; I feel it is definitely more vintage than frumpy. Just look at those joyous roses splashed across the fabric! My aim is to tackle the gaping at the back neckline for when I make future Elisalex’s – once that’s sorted it will be the perfect dress. I wore this dress to my boyfriend’s uncle’s wedding back in March.

Pulling a cheeser – the dress in action!

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Black Cambie Dress

I made this dress in the weeks between degree show ending in June and graduation in July, as a dress to wear to graduation. Complying to the rule about wearing either black or white I bought a couple of metres of some plain black fabric from Croftmill, although I can’t for the life of me remember what it is, but the fabric has a slinky slidy feel to it not unlike crepe (it’s definitely not crepe though). I made a toile before moving on and making the actual dress, which fits like a glove. The main issue I did come across was due entirely to my own stupidity – I couldn’t, no matter how many times I read the instructions, work out how the lining attached. I eventually tried following an online tutorial, and with my mum breaking down the steps, succeeded in inserting it and, you know, once I’d done it I wasn’t sure what I’d got into such a fankle about – it seemed really obvious how to do it. Oh well! Anyway, I wore this dress to graduation and, for the sake of adding a spot of colour to the ensemble, wore my fabulous pair of Ruby Shoo blue flowery heels.

Have a happy new year when it comes!

Hannah x

Daisy Chains in December

Pattern: Inari Crop Tee by Named Patterns and Box Pleat Skirt from the Great British Sewing Bee book ‘Sew Your Own Wardrobe’

Fabric: Inari tee – Green Tea 100% handwoven cotton from Merchant and Mills, Skirt – Linen/Cotton blend in ruby from Backstitch

Christmas has come and gone once again; a lovely relaxed day spent just pottering about at home with immediate family. Having had our (enormous) Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day itself was free of cooking and doing dishes, leaving time for a walk with the dogs and to be really lazy, enjoying presents and lots of ‘nibble’ foods – sausage rolls, cheeses, smoked salmon, Christmas cake…

I love Christmas, but I do rather like settling back into normality once it is all over and having a good sort out and freshen up, before the New Year. I have been busy planning some new sewing ideas for the next wee while, influenced heavily by the Merchant and Mills Workbook, which I got for Christmas. I love in particular their Haremere coat (which I think would be lovely in a heavy-ish tartan wool), as well as the Sandpiper skirt – I’m planning on making a few of those for the summer.

Summer is a fair bit away yet though, so winter sewing is still taking priority at the moment. It has been fairly grey and wet here the past week or so – but very mild – and Sunday proved the first change from that in a while, the skies clear and crisp with a light frost underfoot. Scott and I headed out to the beach at Rosemarkie, on the Black Ilse, on Sunday afternoon for a wee wander and a picnic looking out towards Channery Point. I love being by the sea, there is something very refreshing about the sea air, especially on a cold day. The high tide – with great foaming waves crashing against the beach – was particularly reviving, conducive particularly to rosy cheeks and windswept hair.

Never one to miss an opportunity, we took the chance to take a few photos of my latest makes – yet another striped Inari tee and a red box pleat skirt, which (and I’m very proud of this part) I painstakingly embroidered by hand. I feel I’ve already said quite enough about the Inari crop tee in previous posts, so, besides from reiterating my love for this pattern, I will ramble on mainly about the skirt. I actually made this skirt over the summer, but cutting it to midi length. However, the fabric – a cotton linen mix – was totally wrong for the light swishy midi skirt I wanted, so a couple of weeks ago I hacked a good couple of inches off the bottom and turned it into a mini. Construction wise I’m not going to bore you with details on what was a pretty simple make; I followed the pattern for a box pleat skirt in the second Great British Sewing Bee book, finishing with French seams. The only change I would make next time would be to take the zip right up to the top of the waistband rather than bothering with a hook and eye fastening. This is just personal preference though and me being fussy.

The Inari tee is perfectly relaxed and loose fitting.

I’ve kept the daisies focused on particular areas of the skirt, in clusters, rather than scattered all over the place.

I have been inspired lately to try my hand at embroidery, spurred on in particular by the blog ‘Dottie Angel’ (dottieangel.blogspot.co.uk), which features much beautiful embroidery – or woolly ‘tattoos’ – on coats, hats, scarfs etc, in beautiful floral designs. I’m not therefore going to lie and take all the credit for the idea to embroider a floral design onto this skirt to liven it up a bit. I will however take full credit for the design itself.

I am particularly pleased with the ‘trailing tendril’ from one side of the skirt to the other, over the hook and eye fastening.

I didn’t draw out a design before beginning and, following a ‘how to’ embroidery guide in an old Molly Makes magazine (Issue 50), I began with a single daisy, allowing the pattern to develop and grow as I worked. Four years of drawing classes at art school has definitely helped here! I’ve used 3 fairly straightforward stitches: French knots for the yellow centre, chain stitch for the green foliage, and super simple straight stitch for the white on the daisies and the leaves.

It was very relaxing to do; I worked in the evenings, watching tv, and, although my embroidery is by no means perfect – I have a long way to go – I am very pleased with it. I don’t think it looks too homemade (?) – at least not in a bad way – I hope only in a slightly folky sort of way.

 

The beach at Rosemarkie – looking out to the North Sea

Anyway, that’s all for now!

Hannah x 

 

Map Tunic Dress

Pattern: Simplicity Dotty Angel 1080

Fabric: You Are Here Vintage Map cotton by Art Gallery Fabrics

Welcome to the wild and blustery north east coast of Scotland! Scott and I took a trip on Saturday out to the beach at St Cyrus for a walk and a blast of fresh air. Despite it being December and hardly beach weather, it was lovely; the beach deserted and peaceful. There is something so reviving about being near the sea don’t you think? When you have places like this right on your doorstep (or in this case right on Scott’s) I find I take it for granted and kind of forget how lucky I am to live where I live. It’s all too easy to allow ‘familiarity to breed contempt’ when it comes to how we consider where we live, the grass always seems greener and all that; so it’s good to have days like today to remind me how lucky I am to live in such an utterly beautiful part of the world. Because isn’t the beach, in the North East of Scotland, in December, utterly beautiful? I think it is. It certainly helped to blast the cobwebs away. 

It looks a bit rumpled and creased in this photo – sitting in the car followed by a good north east breeze didn’t help! But you get a good idea of the simplicity of the shape in this photo.

Speaking of beautiful, is this fabric not the most delightful thing? I spotted it whilst idly browsing through m is for make (online), not intending to buy anything, but which, when I spotted it I simply had to have. I had no plan for it at the time (as is often the case when I buy fabric) and it has sat in my stash for a few months now. I really wanted a pretty everyday tunic dress, and, after debating what to do with the fabric (it just didn’t seem right for a dress or a skirt) decided it would be a perfect match for Simplicity’s Dottie Angel pattern 1080. This pattern is a delight; simple clean lines with no zips or buttons, it is a lovely pull over the head, tie at the back dress. I made version B – the tunic length version – which, being short, is actually more of a short dress length on me, which I prefer for this style. It is loose fitting (which I love for a more casual look) and created out of two simple pieces; essentially just the front and back sewn together. Easy peasy! 

I hummed and hawed about lining it and in the end decided not to (purely because I didn’t have any suitable lining in). The pattern doesn’t mention anything about lining and, to be honest, I think that’s fine – I’ll generally be wearing it with thick leggings and the fabric doesn’t seem to ride up quite as bad as it does with tights. 

The sea breeze is blowing my hair to resemble more and more a rumpled up crows nest. I prefer to describe it as windswept – a look I was totally aiming for.

It always takes me a moment to get my head back into the wording of simplicity’s instructions. After the straight forward chat of independent patterns, the language used by the big pattern names always seems more technical so that I have to read through it a few times. Or maybe that’s just me being a bit slow. I also learned how to make my own bias binding – I love the way it finishes the neckline and armholes. I’d never even used ready made bias binding before so this was a bit of a revelation!

I love this style and pattern so much that, no sooner had I finished this one, I had another cut out – this time in a blue floral fabric with contrast mulberry coloured pockets. Oh hey there new wardrobe staple…

Wearing my thoroughly cosy and very sensible Icelandic cardi (bought from ASOS marketplace for a steal at £15!)

Isn’t the sky beautiful!

Hannah x

A Simple Long Black Skirt

Pattern: Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 2305

Fabric: Black Viscose from Macculloch Wallis

The days are really drawing in, night creeping in earlier and earlier, the winter moon an almost constant feature in the sky (when it’s not grey with rain). We had the first really cold snap of the year last weekend; frost lacing the fields in white, leaving cheeks rosy and hands and feet numb with the cold. It’s that time of year again when, despite wearing a million and one pairs of socks and boots my feet still turn into blocks of ice. I do love this sort of crisp wintery weather though – sharp blasts outside are rather pleasant and reviving, far preferable to the grey and rain of previous weeks, which seems to have returned for now.

I have this week free from cooking work (after a mad long (long) weekend working at an estate near Perth) to focus on painting work (I really, really need to crack on with some paintings…). The studio is getting pretty chilly; it’s in an empty stable which my dad fixed up and painted white when I moved home, so that I’d have my own space to paint in. As the rest of the building still functions as a stable, storing bales of hay and animal feed I am reluctant to put a heater in as this coupled with the quantities of white spirit and oil paint I use, make it a pretty big fire hazard – I shall shiver rather than take the risk! I’ve taken to working bundled up under layers of old jumpers, wearing fingerless gloves and consuming copious amounts of tea. Very glamorous indeed. Actually, it’s not really so bad; once I’m out working and am in the ‘zone’ I don’t really notice the cold and can spend hours at a time out pottering away. I have two paintings being hung in an exhibition next March, and my terror at not getting the pieces finished and dry in time is a great motivator!

It’s pretty hard to capture the details on a black garment, but you get the idea – it’s just a simple gathered black skirt.

Anyway, I digress. Both the cold and the wet offer the perfect excuse to settle in late afternoon and sew on into the evening. I have many things planned and a few things started – including a pencil skirt which is really more suited to the summer so my incentive to finish it is waning. I do plan on making a more wintery pencil style skirt soon folowing Named’s Vanamo pattern, using a lovely swirly brocadey fabric from Fabric Godmother.

I’m in skirt mode at the moment: I made this long black skirt a few weeks ago, over a few evenings. It is an adaption of version 4 of Simplicity’s Cynthia Rowley 2305 pattern; I’ve simply lengthened it to maxi, loosened the gathers and added a gradual bit of width to the side seams as they head towards the hem. I am slightly annoyed by the slight wrinkle at the bottom of the invisible zip – it’s not hugely noticeable when wearing it – which I suppose is the main thing – I’m just aware of it every time I iron the skirt. Oh well! I also omitted the side fastening above the zip, choosing to take the zip right up to the top of the waistband. It creates a cleaner line I think.

I’ve apparently nodded off in this photo… I much prefer getting photos outside but it’s been a bit grey and rainy so what can you do!

I’ve wanted a simple long black skirt for a while now (ever since spying someone wearing one ages ago in a coffee shop – I had instant skirt envy); it seemed a pretty handy wardrobe staple which would go with lots of things, all year round, whilst also being feminine – a good antidote to jeans. The black viscose  I used has a lovely drape and weight to it. It’s from Macculloch and Wallis (online) who I don’t think I’ll use again -despite their lovely fabric – due to ridiculous postage and package charges to the Highlands which they added on after I’d completed the order. Anyway, I really love this skirt which sort of compensates for the pricey postage – it pairs so well with so many tops and jumpers, and is really easy to just sling on. I’m thinking of making another one in a deep ruby red colour.

Incidentally, I’m wearing another Inari crop tee in these photos – this time lighter weight and in a gorgeous fabric patterned with astrology signs and maps. 

Isn’t the astrology fabric lovely! I got it from Mander’s in Glasgow back in March

Hannah x

 

Stripy Crop Tee

Pattern: Named’s Inari Crop Tee

Fabric: Emerald City cotton from Merchant and Mills – I don’t think they stock it online anymore; I bought 2m about a year ago.

The hem is straight – I think the way I’m standing must have yanked that side up!

It has been a blustery, ‘beginning to feel like winter’ start to the week; heavy grey skies looming overhead punctuated with bursts of brilliant sunshine. After a manic few days at work last week, it’s been nice to have a few days at home just pottering about, catching up on painting work and some sewing.

Ever since moving back home after finishing uni I have been on a bit of a mission to blitz my fairly meh wardrobe and create a closet full of clothes which make me feel good and which are also everyday practical. Four years at art school has (unintentionally but unavoidably) resulted in a wardrobe where 90% of my clothes are paint stained – fine for long days spent in the studio but not, alas, for everyday wear. Unless of course you want to rock that scruffy, I don’t really care vibe, then by all means, paint spatter away (although some of them are beyond even that). Anyway, I’m fed up of a wardrobe full of clothes which I either don’t want to wear, wear to death, or else wear but don’t feel particularly good in. I’m in full on ruthless mode, packing black bags full of clothes I never wear for the local charity shop – wasteful on my part but I hope at least this way they will get a second lease of life with someone who appreciates them more than I do. My long term aim is to have a wardrobe which is largely made up of my own makes with ready to wear kept to a minimum. But we are talking long term – I’ve not given up rtw altogether, just trying to make more conscious decisions about how I buy and wear clothes.

Basics are key to any wardrobe and I have planned a good stock of tops and tees (rtw and homemade) to hopefully supplement and carry any outfit. As such, I have been busy making a few basic crop tees following Named’s Inari pattern. I’m not going to even pretend to act coy, I am full on in love with this pattern and style; simple and unfussy, with oh so straightforward instructions, I can really focus on getting the finish just right, without having to also worry about getting the fit right. As there are no major concerns over fit – it being a fairly loose, unstructured shape – it is a ridiculously relaxed top to make: I whipped this one up in an evening or two. I even have enough fabric left for another one. The hem is irritating me in the photos – it looks a bit wavy and uneven – I think I must stand weird, it’s straight in real life!

It’s hard to get a good photo of the sleeve band with all the stripes but you can kind of see it here – I love the way it finishes the sleeve so neatly.

Needless to say, I have many more of these tops planned – this style is set to become a true wardrobe staple.

Hannah x

Inari Tee Dress at Crathes Castle

Autumn is having its last gasp here in the North, with glorious clear sunny days, setting the trees ablaze in vibrant splashes of colour. The whole countryside in fact, is saturated with a final defiant wash of colour, before the more muted (or just downright bleak) browns and greys of winter take over. The nights are drawing in now, which, despite loving the long days of summer, I am rather pleased about – long evenings spent sewing seem more appropriate to dark wintery nights than light summery ones. As such I have several projects on the go at the moment, including a few crop tees (the second version of Named’s Inari pattern) and a pencil skirt. Today’s post however features a simple tee dress I made a wee while back in July, following Named’s Inari Tee dress pattern.

Heading out to Crathes Castle on Sunday, Scott and I spent a lovely afternoon pottering about the gardens and grounds. The sun was shining  and we had a picnic beside a beautiful castle – what more could you want from a Sunday afternoon?

Super simple to make I really don’t have a whole lot to say about the construction of this dress – it came together painlessly and totally fuss free, due largely to Named’s clear, straightforward instructions.  I love the simplicity of the style – very unstructured, it’s an easy, pull over the head ‘I’ve sort of made an effort but not really’ look, which I find myself going to again and again. The fabric I used here is from Merchant and Mills – a beautiful lightweight block printed cotton. I really love Merchant and Mills fabric – the website can be dangerous as I find it very hard to resist their lovely printed cottons. I’ve got some lovely blue grey striped fabric, also from Merchant and Mills, which may just end up as another dress like this…

The walled gardens at Crathes are full of wee winding pathways and arches

Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire

Hannah x

An Autumn Dress

Autumn is by far my favourite time of year and, although we are perhaps now edging into winter, the countryside still bears the hallmarks of a classic autumnal day: the trees are alight with a whole array of reds and oranges, the countryside heavy with the smell of wood smoke and bonfires, fresh with a nip in the air. Leith Hall in Aberdeenshire – one of my favourite places in the world – is currently looking exactly how I expect autumn to look. I hadn’t been to Leith Hall since before uni and, having spent a lot of time there as a child, I was worried rose tinted spectacles may have set in. They hadn’t – it is as perfectly beautiful and unspoilt as I remembered, especially as we picked a spectacularly clear, sunny day to go. It definitely didn’t feel like October 31^st! This dress, made a month or two ago, could have been made for the autumn gardens at Leith Hall – they were the perfect background for photos.

The fabric I used for this dress looks like autumn. I spotted it on the Croftmill website ages ago, where it was described as having a pattern of wildflowers on it of ‘the sort Cathy would run through to meet Heathcliff.’ I was sold (I’m easily pleased). The red makes a lovely backdrop to the creamy beige of the flowers (if they were a tube of paint I’d call them buff titanium) giving it a vintage feel, whilst the busy nature of the pattern meant that I didn’t bother worrying about pattern matching. I wanted to create something fairly free and easy – no fussy details or ties – as I felt that this was most in keeping with my hedgerow inspiration, so I chose the bodice from By Hand London’s Anna dress and the gathered skirt option of Sewaholic’s Cambie dress. I know, done to death and blogged about a million times – this paring is hardly new and inspired but it’s new to me and I’m totally in love. I have a whole series of these dresses planned; my wardrobe will be bursting with them. I made a toile up for the Anna dress and found I needed to take a big chunk out the back – it gaped terribly – so, following the tutorial on Ginger Makes blog (http://gingermakes.com/2013/09/06/by-hand-london-anna-dress-narrow-shoulder-adjustment/), I did the necessary adjustment and it seems fine, although if I’m going to be nit-picky it does gape just a wee bit at the front. Not enough to make a big issue of though, I’m not really that fussed.

Kicking up leaves – back view

The gaping at the neckline looks really bad in this photo (perhaps sitting down makes it gape out?) – it’s generally not so noticable/bad in real life!

This dress is going to get such a lot of wear this autumn and on into winter – it’s ideal for layering up and oh so comfy (yet still pretty). After a year of garment sewing I feel that I’m finally beginning to make clothes whose finish I am pleased with and which I’m pretty sure will withstand regular wear and washing.

The gardens at Leith Hall – beautiful in Autumn colours

Hannah x

The First Post:- a little bit of a ramble

I’m not going to lie, writing this undoubtedly soon to be rambly post and sending it out into the ether for anyone to read is a slightly strange feeling. Anyone, anywhere could read my words, should they so wish. Although, if I’m honest with myself, the hundreds of readers I have envisioned in my minds eye, waiting avidly for my next post, are entirely a figment of my imagination and the reality is more likely to be that the only person to actually read this blog is myself. Because I’ve written it, duh. Or my mum. Oh well. Either way this blog will (hopefully) serve it’s part in my quest to both simplify and better organise life, as a handy reminder of all the things I have made and a way by which I can track my progress sewing. I have ummed and aahd about starting this blog for several months now – all summer in fact – and have decided, once and for all, just to get on and do it. This very first post will not feature any photos or makes, I just wanted to write something – anything – to get the dreaded first post off the ground and done. I am also currently working in a remote Scottish lodge without camera or nice clothes, which would be key to the posting of photos. Anyway, that’s it for now, I have a batch of oat and raisin cookies to get out of the oven and dinner won’t make itself.

First post=done. Next post=to feature homemade clothes, fabric chat and photos.