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 ♪

On My Sewing Table..

My sewing table is actually my dining room table, so it's less on the sewing table and more like hanging up waiting to be finished...

But no one likes a pedantic, kids.

I'm starting on the pullover/top/overlaying top/whatever that will be part of my No Cock Nor Tail outfit for a Christmas party.
The dobby print 'lace' has been in my stash since the beginning of the year. I'd always planned to make myself a nice bra and knickers out of it, because it's so wonderfully soft and stretchy - but it never happened, mostly due to the fact I find bras really, really difficult.

The pattern is what I call a Frankenpattern - It's a fusion of two patterns, in this case the Bow Tied Blouse and Wiggle Dress from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing;

I thought I'd be helpfully mad and draw you a little How To Frankenpattern - be warned, I drew this after being up for nigh-on 15 hours and it gets a little crazy;

Click for larger, be warned of crazy. And an inability to draw in a straight line.

The gist of the Frankenpattern was to lay the kimono sleeves of the Wiggle Dress over the Bow Tied Blouse to give me the pattern I wanted. I traced both in a size 16 [which is surprisingly bang on my measurements] and trued the pattern according to the measurements I wanted. I forgot that the fabric I was using was stretch, and the whole thing was a million sizes too big on my muslin, so I ended up constantly trying on, sewing, trying on, sewing... Until it fit me perfectly.

At this point I ditched the button-back of the original design, because I don't want any sagging, so I have two pattern pieces with 'decorative darts, and little underarm gussets!

Aww, little underarm gusset!

And that's all I've got for you this time around! I'm already finding it difficult to sew, even with a stretch stitch, a ballpoint needle and an increasingly painful amount of patience!

I hope your weekend went well, loves!
Melody ♪