• A Named Sloane Sweatshirt with Atelier Brunette Gorgeousness!

  • Hello lovelies

    I’ve been on a mission to make myself a range of different sweatshirt patterns lately (as you will have probably seen!). I guess this is just out of curiosity to test the fit and style of a bunch of them. This particular pattern has been in the pile for so long, and I was excited to finally get round to making it!

    It is a Named Sloane Sweatshirt, which features a couple of darts on the front. I was drawn to this pattern because I had been after a narrower neckband than some other patterns have. I like to wear a t-shirt underneath my jumpers (for warmth, you know!), and too often you can see too much of the t-shirt showing inside the sweatshirt neckline – which I hate! And I’m *very* happy to say that this neckline situation has been avoided with this amazing pattern.

    The only possibly negative I would mention about this pattern is that seam allowances are not included – so you must remember to add these when cutting out. I can’t remember if this is the same for all patterns by Named. But just wanted to get in here early and give you fair warning about this (as someone kindly messaged me on Instagram to alert me to this too).

    And the fabric I’ve used here has been in the stash for way too long… it is another incredible French terry from Atelier Brunette (bought from Backstitch many moons ago!). If you follow my blog you will know that I recently made a Zebre sweatshirt from an Atelier Brunette French terry (blog post HERE) – so I feel like I mustered up the courage to cut into that fabric…. and it kind of got me into the spirit of just using the fancy fabric. I think there’s a moral to this story somewhere… maybe there’s no point in keeping these posh fabrics to sit in a stash… and best to just brave it and make something…? Something like that anyway!

    I would definitely recommend this pattern to others – I love wearing it! The only things I would change on a future one (and these are just personal preference things) are to have a wider waistband (as in taller – does that make sense?!), and longer cuffs. Then I think I will have my absolute dream jumper in all of the world! 

    Anyway, I’m going to be working on a dress as my next project… if you’re interested in seeing sneak peeks of what I’m getting up to then head over to my Instagram (@gingerthreadgrl) and you will be able to check out my stories for all of the fun in my sewing room (and the rest of my world!). 

    Pattern: Named Sloane Sweatshirt

    Fabric: Atelier Brunette French Terry, bought from Backstitch

    Size made: 38

    Adjustments made: None

  • A Festive Red True Bias Nikko Dress

  • Happy holidays guys!

    Somehow I managed to pull out all of the stops and make this dress in super quick time. Which is good, because my ‘vision’ was to make this to wear on Christmas day. 

    I haven’t made a Nikko before, so it was a bit of a gamble as to whether or not I would like it… if it would suit me… because it’s a bit of a daring one! I was feeling brave enough to give it a go though. I guess I now feel as though I have a body that I’m happy with. Maybe this is a combination of losing a bit of weight, and also just caring a little bit less about this than my pre-baby self! I’m not sure if this is a make that I will get an awful lot of wear out of. But I am super excited to have whipped this up for Christmas! 

    The fabric is a bright red ‘tomato’ ponte roma from my local haberdashery, Backstitch. It was so lovely to work with – such amazing quality. I will definitely be going back for some more ponte soon!

    The Nikko asks for fabric which has a minimum of 75% stretch, which is quite a bit. I checked the ponte before cutting it up, and it did just about have that much stretch. However, I would definitely highlight that this is an important point for being able to stretch the neckband of the dress over your head! Luckily I have a little pea head so it just about stretched over (phew!). 

    And I’m going to be honest with you here – I haven’t finished the seam on the cuffs… because, well, I don’t have to! Lazy sewing… but hey, it’s Christmas!

    Sizing-wise, I cut a 4 at the top, and graded to a 6 from the waist down to hip. Seems to have done the trick on my pear-shapedness! 

    Anyway, I’m pretty pleased with how this has turned out, and I can’t wait to wear it tomorrow for the big day. A bit worried about the bloating after Christmas dinner… but oh well! 

    Merry Christmas to each and every one of you – thank you so much for reading and visiting the blog this year. Here’s to more sewing coming this way in 2019!

    Lots of love, Jen x

    Pattern: True Bias Nikko Dress

    Fabric: Red Ponte Roma from Backstitch

    Size made: 4, graded to 6 at the hip

    Adjustments made: Shortened sleeve, graded sizing

  • Another I Am Patterns Zebre Sweater - My SewCam Make Finished!

  • Morning lovelies!

    So, we’re nearly at Christmas… how did this even happen?! Life feels pretty darn hectic… and I know I’m not the only one to be feeling the pressure right now. So to keep myself sane, and fight the anxiety of those endless Christmas lists I have been mentally writing in my head, I decided to get myself into the sewing room. And like magic, it really helped lift my spirits and take my mind out of that anxious place. Go sewing! 

    I had a half-made sweatshirt which I started making at SewCam earlier in December. So it was a really simple and quick make to get stuck into and feel that oh-so rewarding feeling of completing a make, without the time commitment. It did me wonders! 

    So, on to the make itself! I decided on an I Am Patterns Zebre sweater. This is one I have made before (click here to see the blog post for this), and I need to tell you that I have absolutely lived in my first version. It’s kind of funny because I wasn’t 100% sure I would get the wear out of it before… not sure why – maybe because it is a little bit different…? But it has done me proud! I wear it for work and at home. It’s comfy, flattering – and I’ve had so many lovely complements on that pattern! So when I was frantically organising bits for SewCam, I thought a sweatshirt would be a nice quick, easy and simple make to take along. As predicted though, I did way too much chatting and didn’t actually get an awful lot of sewing done. So I finished the cuffs, neck band and waistband at home. 

    And one of the really exciting things about this make is I finally cracked open the Atelier Brunette French Terry fabric I have been treasuring in my stash for so long! It’s called ‘Dazzle Night’. I’ve been too scared to cut it up for well over a year – I bought this from my local haberdashery, Backstitch

    And because the fabric is really the star of the show with this make, I decided against putting buttons onto the shoulder. I couldn’t visualise any buttons looking particularly great with this – like they would be fighting the beautiful fabric pattern for attention, and I didn’t like that. So I went simple 🙂

    The fabric was just utterly scrumptious to work with – and the inside is soft as butter. I used my overlocker to stitch it up, which worked perfectly. 

    I did worry around the point of inserting the neckband that I’d overstretched it. Which to be fair, I think I had – but a good pressing seems to have fixed that. Thank goodness! Can you imagine if I stuffed up with this posh fabric?! 

    And after this, I am happy to report that I have just worn this jumper for nearly an entire week when we went away to Center Parcs with Otis. I can’t rate this pattern highly enough. It has comfiness, style, it flatters the figure, is easy to wear… and I need to tell you that I love it!!

    I’m hoping to blog just one more make before Christmas… so we’ll see how I get on with that… hopefully a bit of a festive one! 

    I hope you’ve liked seeing this make though. In a way, I feel like it is kind of a chic Christmas jumper!

    Pattern: I Am Patterns, I Am Zebre

    Fabric: Atelier Brunette French Terry from Backstitch

    Size made: 38

    Adjustments made: Removed buttoned-up shoulder