Disappointments and A Wearable Muck Up.

I know I seem to spend half my blogging time apologising for unscheduled absence, but I'm going to do it anyway - Sorry for being a bit absent around the blog for a bit!

May has been a month that was shaping up to look good - a prospective new job and a move to London was nearly in my grasp, then boom - rejected. At the time I was definitely upset, the manager had given me false hope and it was the sort of job I was looking for, but I'm lucky to have support in people who are close to me. And a night of rum, gin and The Roustabouts.

But enough of semi-depressing stuff, I turned that anger into a new dress [which will be blogged about soon, I promise] and danced myself silly at The Burning Beat, and I have a nicer outlook on life.

Sadly not so much with this item.

I should preface, I have never worked with jersey. I've worked with some stretch fabrics with very little success, but I did a lot of reading up on using jersey with a normal machine, and was certain everything will turn out somewhat fine?

Mneh?

one. two. three

After seeing a few vintage batwing-styled-sleeve blouses and Lucille in this gorgeous Mode Merr top, I decided to try my hand at playing around with some absolutely gorgeous jersey I bought from a charity shop for the measly sum of £1.50 for a meter, that's been sitting in my stash for a rainy 'yes I feel confident enough for jersey' day.

I wish I could say everything turned out perfectly, and I felt it did for the majority of making this, but it's been back under the machine four times to be taken in because apparently I don't understand that jersey has stretch and there's f- all use for putting ease into a stretch fabric. No really, don't bother, or else it will turn out to be about two sizes too big.

It was fairly simple to put together, there's little-to-no shaping in it, essentially it's a square with a semi-circle cut out of it, with some strategic gathering and sewn onto a waistband. Yeah, that simple.

I like it despite the fact I quite frankly can't get my head around jersey and half the stitches are breaking.

This is my "pull a stupid face/pose to show that your sleeves are ridiculous" pose.

It'll do, really. Not so bad bad for a first try, but not so great. At least it's wearable.

• Fabric:
  Black jersey of unknown content [Stash, bought in charity shop for £1.50]
• Pattern:
  Absolutely none.
• Notions:
  None!
• Time to Complete:
  ~4 hours from fabric to sewn - god knows how many more hours in tweaking.
• Make again?:
  If I suddenly know how to use jersey I'd like to remake it, for now I'll stick to wovens, though!
• Total price: £1.50 for fabric.

Verdict: Stay away from jersey.

This time next week, I'll be watching fast bikes go around in circles on the Isle of Man. We're going on a ferry and I haven't had a holiday in years, so this is technically now a holiday. I'm packing sunscreen and everything.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks, my dears!
Melody ♪