New Fabrics & Projects!

I've been doing okay with not buying much new fabric this year so far. But I had some gift certificates from Christmas to use up, so this week I had a bit of a splash out at Fabricland!

There were a couple of rayon fabrics I had been keeping my eye on, and they were on sale this week. Unfortunately when I held one of them up I realized the pattern had a definite stripe to it, which I didn't like. But the other one, a geometric 80s style print, was great. I bought 2 m. and am thinking about making a big 80s blouse of this one ;) It has all the colours of my wardrobe palette in it, so hopefully it will match most of my current wardrobe!

But as I was busily getting this rayon cut, and talking to the clerk, my husband was wandering around -- and suddenly appeared with a bolt of this fabulous cotton. If you look closely at it you'll understand why I had to buy some immediately! Not sure what I'll do with it yet but I love a novelty print!

Meanwhile, counterbalancing this impulsive purchase is the current project I've just cut out. As you might note, there are some large pieces here; I've cut it out of a thrifted sheet and hope it all works out....... I'll keep it a mystery until it's ready to share, but so far it looks hopeful that I'll have it done in a few days. 

So a little in and a little out. This month has landed me more on the "IN" side but I should be able to get back on track next month and get some fabric "OUT" of the stash as well. I'm hoping to avoid a fabriclanche in the sewing room ;) 

Small Mends

Do you ever have small mending projects to do that you avoid for months and then realize you can do them in about ten minutes? I did two of those kind of projects this weekend!

First off there was a corduroy shirt that my husband wanted me to fix somehow - one elbow had gotten so thin that it just tore one day. It was way too big of a tear and the fabric too worn out to patch. So, because it was such a lightweight fabric, he wondered if I could just make it short sleeved. Of course! Eight months later, this project was done in about ten minutes start to finish. 

I used one of his other shirts to find the right length for the sleeve. Fortunately there was enough fabric above the tear to make it his preferred length. I just added a 1 inch hem and cut it. Then of course I had to cut the other sleeve the same way - can't have a one sleeved shirt! I just pressed the hem under and stitched it down. I didn't have any matching thread as I don't sew in tans or browns for myself, so just used a brownish grey that I had in my greys. It worked out fine! Now that is complete and off my mending pile. 

The next one was really more of a little fix than a mend. I made a Burda dress from green linen last year, and found that I didn't wear it because I felt like the bust darts were too pointy and this fabric is hard to press, it doesn't like to lie flat. So I unpicked the side seams from about an inch above to 4 inches below the dart, unpicked the dart and just gathered the fabric uptake into the side seam. There are more visible gathers at the seam than I'd like but it's under my arm so not too obvious. 

This now allows the dart uptake to be spread out over that area, but there is no pulling or poky dart ends in sight. It has taken a few steam presses to get the dart lines out of the fabric but I think I will be more likely to pull this one on now. I'm happy with it - it's a "good enough" fix. I'm really trying to get some of those longstanding projects off the pile!

Weekend Review: Connecting with Nature

Connecting with Nature / Tilly Rose
Tunbridge Wells, UK: Search Press, c2025.
128 p.

This book is a little different from the previous stitching books I've mentioned this month. It's more of a mixed media approach to craft. Tilly Rose is an artist from the UK, and this book reflects what I think of as the English aesthetic when it comes to stitching. Lots of ephemera and things in states of what looks like disrepair - a shabby chic effect overall. 

This particular book is organized around the seasons. She starts out with some basics on botanical dyes and paints (including how to forage responsibly), and shares tips on weaving and slow stitching. Then the book moves into chapters on Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. There are 2 or 3 projects in each chapter, featuring varied techniques. 

From the aforementioned botanical dyes to cyanotypes, flower pressing, slow stitching, floral mandalas, or weaving with natural materials, each one takes a little bit of a different approach to creating nature based projects. Because you're using materials like this, a lot of the projects will be ephemeral ones. Although she does give advice on how to get the bugs out of the sticks or reeds you might want to use... 

There are some interesting ideas here, even if this book as a whole is a little too earth mother for my own aesthetic purposes. I liked the dyeing chapter, some new to me bits there, and the stitched blessing is a lovely touch, even if I would leave off the attached twigs and bits myself. 

You might find this a nice one to look through, especially if you enjoy bringing nature and all types of flora into your work. But if you're looking for anything sleek and modern, this won't do it for you. 

Design: The Hinterland Dress

As part of my Word of the Year choice for 2025 - Design - I decided to take a class that would help me with my pattern design skills! I signed up for the Creative Hinterland course with Sew Liberated back during her big January sale. I have finally begun it!

I traced off the pattern and am now making adjustments to the bodice. I'll make a muslin of this one to make sure I get the bodice fit right, since all the rest of the class really depends on getting the basic fit right to begin with. 

I've watched all the intro videos (quite calming, really) and am planning to get my first Hinterland dress made according to the pattern to test out all the fit and process issues. Then I will start watching and following the pattern adjustments for all the many variations they teach in this class. There are lots of changes to make for really different looks, starting with easy and moving up in complexity as you go. 

I've been wanting to do this for a while so finally jumped this year. Even if every time I hear "Hinterland" I don't go right to the dress - I immediately think of this: 

Fellow Canadians will understand! 

I will be sharing my adventures in this class as I go this year. One big Design challenge for me!

Thrift Store Scores

As regular readers here might already know, I love thrifting. I have always enjoyed it - but it's not just that I am cheap, I also love keeping fabrics, patterns and notions in use, so they don't end up wasted in landfill somewhere. 

I haven't been doing as much thrifting over the last while, partly because the weather for the first couple of months of this year was so dreadful I wasn't going anywhere - and partly because I am trying to sew from stash first. 

But I did end up doing some shopping this month! These are the fabric treasures I've found recently. Some black broadcloth right at the bottom (always useful), some silky  linings that I adore, a synthetic checkerboard print, some yellow cotton, a pillowcase with an interesting print, and a couple of fat quarters of quilting cotton. It's a wide variety and we'll see if I use any of it up soon. I enjoy finding interesting options while thrifting, especially odd prints that are more unusual. 

I also picked up a couple of older patterns, one of my favourite things to collect. I am particularly drawn to the white blouse in the Butterick pattern. Lots of interesting details in both though! I always seem to gather more than I can reasonably use but it is awfully entertaining 😀 

Weekend Review: Journal With Thread

 

Journal with Thread / Jessie Chorley
Pynes Hill, Exeter, UK: David & Charles, c2024.
111 p.

I love embroidery, and I love journaling - so I really couldn't resist this book when it appeared in my local library! It's a collection of motifs (iron-on included in the back of the book though of course you can also just trace any of them) plus some design suggestions. All in the service of creating a fabric journal with a visual record of your days. (lots of interior photos on her blog as well!)

The book opens with an overview of what exactly a fabric journal is, and some ideas about inspiration, tools and materials, sketching, appliqué, a thread and stitch guide and of course motifs to share. But by page 40 she's jumping right in to the making of a journal. 

The main part of the book involves how to create your own fabric journal, whether that's all completely from scratch or by applying stitched panels to a premade fabric book. She follows the round of the seasons for her example work but of course you can create any design you want. 

She goes into detail for each page of the book, with instruction and photo examples (lots of big clear photos). She shares Front Cover/Inside Front Cover, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter pages, and also the Inside Back Cover/Back Cover layout. All of this specific, hands-on instruction takes up 50 pages. 

The book finishes with some additional templates and further ideas, as well as a list of resources and DMC colour codes. And the iron-on transfers are all attached in the back of the book too. 

I thought this was an interesting concept, and really liked the straightforward instructions on creating a book from fabric. I'm not sure I'd have the same visual style if I made one; I probably wouldn't use many of these motifs for my own version. But I really like the idea of creating a book like this, and I enjoyed seeing how she uses extra items beyond just threads to create her imagery. She'll sew on bits of lace or cloth, or use buttons or Suffolk Puffs as ornamentation. She even has some snaps and tiny jingle bells in her wintery scenes. Lots of fun to look through. It's the English joy in imperfection that shows through here, and I did feel it worked in this instance. Glad I read it! 

Burda Knit Dress in 80s Style!

I finished the first project from my 2025 MakeNine list! Actually it's the first garment I have made for myself this year! It's a knit dress, Burda 121-11-23 -- I was drawn in by its 80s silhouette, with those great sleeves :) 

I had a lightweight sweater knit in my stash so decided to use it up on this dress, which I was hurrying to finish before the weather warms up. I made a few small changes to the dress, not many, mostly for fit and style preferences. 

I didn't shorten the length, as I wanted it to end around my knees, not shorter as it appears in the original. I did shorten the sleeves, however - I have shorter arms so always do this. This time I took an inch out, and made a 1.5" hem. I also adapted the neckline, as a super wide boat neck doesn't work for me, and also Burda necklines are usually wide for me to begin with. I took an inch out of the centre front & back width at the neckline, and I also added another inch to fill in the curve at the shoulder. It's still a wider neckline but won't be falling off my shoulders now. 

The other change I made was to add in some pockets. It was very easy to add in some side seam pockets (using broadcloth to minimize stretching). I added them first, and then when attaching the elastic casing on the inside at the end of the process, I made sure to catch the tops of the pockets in the stitching so that they would be held to the front and given a little more security as well. That should avoid any sagging in the line of the dress. 

I think this is a fun dress and because it's a lighter weight sweater knit, I can wear it longer into the spring and again earlier in the fall. Nice touch of print in it to relieve any solid black, but a more subdued look when I don't feel like wearing jewel tones. I do find I always like a Burda pattern.