THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
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It's a compulsion, I just have to sew, sew, sew! Initially this blog was to be all about pattern cutting & no commercial pattern use was to dare grace its hallowed pages. I hope the main focus will still be me sketching & creating my own patterns, especially as all the people I make for have their own figure quirks, but I am certainly not above using commercial patterns.
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
5M ago
Finally, the rest of the fashion world has realised what I knew years ago – wide leg trousers/pants are simply fabulous! Daughter No 2 has been wanting a pair of those fabulously floppy, soft, wide legged trousers for a while now, and we’ve gone through loads of pattern options, but none were quite right. I thought I’d cracked it with the Landers, but no, not quite.
Protea pants in cotton twill
This summer I bought the Protea Pants pattern from Paradise Patterns as part of their fundraiser for the Hawaiian fire disaster. I’d fancied it for myself for a while, but not all photos on Instagram we ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
5M ago
Waaaay back in May of this year, a week break in Cornwall resulted in the inevitable trip to Truro Fabrics – with the obvious result. Daughter No 2 was with me and bought three pieces for herself. One piece was a 1cm black and white gingham cotton that she wanted to make a skirt from, a tiered, gathered skirt like the ones she’s been seeing on Instagram. I knew we could make a pattern easily enough, and that it would also be easy enough for her to make on her own, with limited time.
About two months later I finally made enough of a pattern for the fitted top section of the skirt to enable a to ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
5M ago
When a pattern is perfect, it is only right to make it again and again, right? I’ve made so many versions of my favourite Burda trousers, a certain Burda jacket and some of the Style Arc pants – and this shirt. I have other patterns. But I do love this one! Mr Not-Compulsive thinks I need to branch out, try other shirts too, but I’m still all starry eyed over the Olya.
So here she is, I think this is the seventh one I’ve made now. I love the print of the fabric, it’s also a nice weight, so perfect for winter wearing. Some of the others are a little thin – necessitating a jumper if they’re to ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
7M ago
Oh I have been remiss – this is only the second peek into my sewing process I’ve done this year! It has been a weird one, to be hoonest, so we’ll just move on, shall we? Today I’m making another Olya shirt. Another?? Well, yes. I love this pattern! Its simultaneously casual and smart, all depends on how you wear it. The fabric is viscose, but no one of those thin, floaty viscoses. This one has more body and weight, less floaty drape than you’d expect from viscose, so I think it’ll be perfect for cooler weather wearing. And yes, I think we can now safely say that it is moving properly into cool ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
7M ago
Another pair of linen trousers has been added to the summer wardrobe. Back in January I made a pair of Burda trousers using some crisp cotton chino fabric and said at the time that I’d love to make a linen pair – well, I’ve made them! Pants 106 from February 2020 with the interesting seam detail on the front legs and the barrel shape has proved to be a pattern I like very much.
Seam details on the front leg
The linen is from Higgs and Higgs, chartreuse in colour and with some weight and body, it’s not a light linen, so it’s going to be perfect to wear as the weather cools down (not this week ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
7M ago
I love the Zadie jumpsuit, it’s so easy to make, and so fabulous to wear! This one almost wasn’t a jumpsuit at all, the fabric was initially destined to be trousers, with possibly making a jacket from the rest of it. But I was hit on the head with a bolt of inspirational lightning. I realised I’d be wearing only blue or off white tops with this fabric if it were trousers – and as a jacket, I’d be wanting plain tops under it, so…. It made perfect sense to make an all-in-one, in effect, a jumpsuit. And we all know the best jumpsuit around is Zadie!
I made a decision to cut the bodice with the p ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
7M ago
While my mum was visiting, we actually managed a fair amount of sewing, which you wouldn’t know from the lack on Instagram sewing posts! At some point in the first few weeks of her arrival I needed a certain something out of a fabric box in my stash and had a good hunt for it which, of course, lead to “ooh, you have to see this fabric, and this one, and, isn’t this gorgeous???” One thing leads to another and soon the fabric is strewn all over the room, boxes up-ended and a little gooey pile of fabric heaven sits in the middle. Then I opened the wool box…. I don’t remember what exactly was said ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
7M ago
I found this gorgeous cotton fabric on the Rosenberg stall at the NEC back in March and fell in love. Initially I had a jacket in mind, but soon decided on a pair of trousers. I just needed to pick a pattern. The fabric is quite crisp, with a decent amount of body and absolutely zero stretch or movement. So I went looking in my older Burda magazines for something that didn’t require a certain percentage of elastane.
I happened to have a little stash of early 2000 and late 90s magazines out of the loft storage, so this is where I started. May 2002 happens to be a very good month! As I saw this ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
8M ago
It’s been such a long time! April disappeared in a whirl of getting ready for a three month visit by my mum, then May, June and July disappeared in a whirl on visits, gardening, chatting and a bit of sewing. There definitely was not as much sewing as I’d anticipated, but that’s really not a bad thing, we made what we needed to, and did other things instead!
However, there have been a load of things made and not blogged. Not all of it is overly exciting, but I like to keep tabs on it anyway. The last thing I showed off that I’d made for myself was the Spring Jacket. Since then I’ve made a pair ..read more
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS
1y ago
I made this corduroy jacket for Daughter No2 back in January, but hadn’t got the chance to get photos of it on her until now. You can read the details of how it all started in my first Work in Progress Wednesday post of the year. The pattern is one that’s been in my stash for a while, so I was really glad of the chance to use it.
The adjustments listed in that post were quick and relatiely simple, and I stuck with just adding lining and interfacing where it really needed it, no shoulder pads! I lined the pockets with a left over scrap of shweshwe from a blouse that Daughter No 2 had made for ..read more