Sewing springtime basics

  A backlog of projects I’ve sewn for myself recently are starting to stack up. I find it a little harder to motivate myself to sew things for me as sewing for the girls is so much quicker (smaller/less shaping), cheaper (less material) and satisfying (joy of creating something marred only by a few inevitable mistakes here and there rather than mistakes and self-consciousness). A need for new clothes and a complete aversion to high street shops eventually spurred me into action though, and I’ve worked my way through a few springtime basics. First up I made some Hudson pants in a bid for extra comfortable everyday wear. I couldn’t find textured or slubbed sweatshirt material, so for my first pair I used the reverse side of some funny plaid acrylic knit fabric I found in a bargain bin. I am really happy with the fit and look of the pants, but, I fear they will have to serve as a muslin version as I really don’t like the feel of the acrylic against my skin. After another failed hunt for suitable fabric (I did find one or two possibles but they were sooooo expensive I couldn’t justify the purchase – if you know an affordable source please let me know!), I decided to make a woven version with some lovely navy silk/linen mix fabric I had in the cupboard. The only changes I made to the pattern were to go up two sizes (although in retrospect I’m pretty sure one would have been enough) and to square off the pocket pieces so I could make a detail of topstitching them from the outside. Next up a basic floral top made with the beautiful (but very difficult to work with) viscose javanese I had left over from making this dress last summer. The fabric is reasonably fluid so I figured a very simple shape without darts would work well. To call the pattern self-drafted seems to be a overstatement as really it was just cut freehand. I used bias binding made in the same fabric to finish the neckline and buttons all the way down the back to close.

Self conscious photo taken by H. I particularly like how she framed it with the kitchen door…

For the next item I used another popular pattern at the moment, the Linden sweatshirt. I hesitated a bit before buying the pattern as it seemed quite pricey for such a simple design, and one that really I should have been able to draft myself without too much trouble. In the end I decided to save myself some time and invest in the pattern, as I imagined that it was the kind of basic style that will get a lot of use. I made view B lengthening the pieces by about 2 inches, and used some braided/quilted style sweatshirt weight fabric that I bought from Simply Fabrics. The photo on the hanger doesn’t do it much justice but I was immediately satisfied that the pattern was a good buy. The proportions are perfect and it has become an instant wardrobe favourite, which can be worn on its own or over a shirt for work wear. Lastly a self-drafted dress made from a very fine grey and white striped wool. The design is based on a dress I found on pinterest, where the stripes were bolder but used in the same way. I thought the style of the bodice was particularly effective, where a single dart was used to keep the direction of the stripes simple. To emulate this I used my basic body block as a starting point, swinging the side dart round to create one single under-bust dart. The dress is fully lined with a peach coloured cotton voile, partly because the main fabric was wool, and partly because it really was fine and see-through dresses aren’t something I ever find much use for.

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