100!

I had an email early this morning to say my blog now has 100 followers via Bloglovin’. Even since starting this post, I've had several additional followers. Oh happy day!

Thank you every single one of you!

A very big welcome to my new and recent followers.
Thank you too to Kate and Rhonda both of whom mentioned my blog this week and  this very clearly contributed to an upturn in numbers of views

I think this is great especially when there seems to be a downturn in the number of blog posts. At least, with the blogs I follow - which are quite a few!

I'm using Instagram now, too. I find it useful and get more or as much feedback via that than I do via my blog. However, I'm not a photo person, I'm more of a word person (word auto-corrected to weird and maybe that's true too!). I haven't been doing so well recently - life gets in the way! - but my blog was to document what I made, how I made it, the difficulties I had, lessons learned for next time - and of course,  to celebrate success! So it's really a personal journal though its original remit has expanded a bit and become a bit diluted in the process. I'm happy though. My blog is not in any way commercial.

I'm trying to improve the photos in the blog posts but sometimes I just want it done and a phone snap, in class or wherever, will fit the bill. These snaps are so useful for fitting, of course. I'm lucky that I can get fitting help. Not everyone can, of course, but these photos do go a long way to help.

I have too many projects planned or on the go. I did get rid of quite a few UFOs either by finishing them or by deciding to abandon. Thank you Ruth for coming up with the term AUFO (abandoned unfinished object) My plan is not to start anything completely new until I get more under control. I did say completely new. I plan to blog garments in progress and when completed.

On my in progress bundle are:

• The biggy - the xth toile for trousers. Say no more. Though this will feature at a later point. I have an epic post in progress - it just needs the ending of a wearable pair of pants!

• Rory is fitting a close-fitting torso block ready for David and me to modify a dressmaking model for me. I'm about to cut out and sew up what will hopefully be the final toile. Rory is draping the sleeve in our next session.  This is an exciting project. Those of you who have followed me for a while will know that I modified a dressmaking model 'Missy' to fit my youngest daughter as I had to fit her wedding dress at a distance.  This was only partially successful. This is for me.

The next fitting will be next to the skin - I have a vest on here

Rory had to stretch a bit!

Not easy to see - the changes drawn in

The pieces cut apart - ie turned into princess seams with seam allowances

• A tank top - this was tissue fitted - it's cut out and darts sewn. I need to check fit before moving on. It should be a simple job. Okay, I've said that before! This isn't from my own pattern - I think it's a McCall's. If it doesn't work, I'll do another of my own pattern

• Two jackets - a Morris blazer and a McCall's blazer. I haven't touched either for ages. They are leftover from post jacket class sewing. Ran out of time as usual. Both in toile stage. With both, next stage is a fashion fabric. I guess I should check fit first though. My weight loss has stalled and I have a busy food-filled fortnight ahead of me but then...

• Child's raspberry waterproof jacket. This is our second outerwear class project. The class has finished.  The jacket is nearly finished but Rory wasn't there in the sewing bee this week to help Nicky and me finish

• Cashmerette Concord tee shirt. I was fitted and modifications made to tee. I've still to transfer modifications to pattern. It's pretty easy to make up after that. I have some suitable fabric

I need to alter the shoulder line on the tee. I haven't shown the sleeve and bodice next to sleeve changes required.

• I've got the pattern and the fabric ready to try the proper red silk dress for Helen. She didn't want me to start it until I'd put her wedding dress back together (dismantled to clean and repair).

Recently finished

• Yes, I finished repairing Helen's dismantled wedding dress and returned it to her over the Easter weekend. Yay! The relief! Hopefully it's now safely stored away in Helen's flat. (There are a few bits of the silk crepe left and I'm wondering if I could make a tank for her. I think I need something with lots of seams as there is no big chunk with selvedge. This is way down my list though. As is the red silk dress as I gave her a different Christmas present.)

• Checked skirt. Previously blogged. I'm not going to alter. For discard. That's a AUFO!

• Orange gilet. Previously blogged.
• Checked tank. Previously blogged.
  
  
  This one is a success.

• Shortened legs on new RTW trousers!! I've never/rarely had to shorten before. I think it's because I wear flat shoes and lots of people wear higher heels with wide legs like these. Usually I have to lengthen and add a false hem when there isn't enough fabric to let down. 

Planned over the next year

• I agreed to hack or somehow lengthen a dress for Alison.  She loves it but it's too short for work. This is a more complex task.

• Shirt for younger grandson - provided he hasn't grown too  big for me to be able to use the fabric leftover from shirt for older grandson.

• I will be fitting in jackets and trousers and tops for me! Well, they're really at toile stage. Provided I get good fitting toiles.

• Shirt and jeans for David. He's not difficult to fit. He has said he's happy to wait - he wants me to do something for me first, before anything else.

• The third term of my level 3 sewing class starts in May. Stretch wear inc swimsuit. I may restrict this to class.

• Helen's red silk dress, silk camisole and tartan skirt are all currently on the back burner. Her birthday is in November so probably the red dress for then.

• A kimono for Joanne. Not a big task- it's just fitting it in. I have the fabric. Her birthday is in August.

Joanne is on the left. She's wearing the shorts in this photo but very hard to see.

• Joanne will need new shorts as she's rapidly losing weight. I'll need to get more of the nice fabric I bought for the first pair of shorts. She read my Instagram (she doesn't follow my blog) where I said I'd prefer to make a different colour and has suggested a black or a white floral but not purple which was an option I offered.  She also asked about changing up the lace or missing out but I think it needs the weight. Once she gets to her target weight, I'll modify the pattern.

So that's me and my blog. Please do comment!!

A checked skirt - warning if you suffer from migraines!

This is from a commercial pattern. An amazing fit pattern from Simplicity 2475. I'm not sure what size I started with.  That's not true,  I know where I cut but as the pattern has 1” seam allowances, I'm not sure where I ended up! You see,  this was a UFO.

I had cut out the pattern in red cotton blend fabric and started to adjust it some time ago. Over a year ago. Maybe two. I can't remember how far I got with fitting!  That is,  I couldn't remember whether I had sewn with the 1” seams in mind or the more standard ⅝” seams. Not good,  I know. I suspect I started with the 1” and altered. This skirt toile had been previously altered for fit before being abandoned to the great UFO pile.

This time around, I sewed up the red toile and found that the fit wasn't too bad. I needed more space for my full front thighs - my skirts have a tendency to crease across the front. However, I certainly didn't have 1” seam allowances,  just the standard ⅝”.

So I made some alterations,  with some fitting help in class:

• I allowed additional space at the front princess seams - an additional ½” at each (by sewing the seams at 1cm (⅜”) instead of 1.5cm (⅝”))
• The back seams were not lying correctly and Rory marked them to lie properly - this involved adding/subtracting fabric to the sides of the two vents.
• The skirt was not hanging properly and I needed to remove some fabric from the front skirt top  - effectively dropping the front waist. My waist is rather sloped back to front

I made the changes to the pattern. I had traced some of the pieces,  but not all. (I'm lazy)

I was of two minds whether to make up a toile or try in fashion fabric. I decided to make up in checked Ikea cotton. I thought this would be a ‘wearable toile/muslin’. I know that most people don't make a fraction of the toiles I do but perhaps they are easier to fit?

So I went ahead and made up the skirt,  basting the seams in the first instance. I found I had to work hard to get the vents at the back to lie properly - it became clear that my original pattern change at this point needed further adjustment. I found it very difficult to match the tiny check. It was liable to induce a migraine! And the photos are showing a distinct moire pattern

The skirt appeared to fit quite well and I went ahead and finished the seams, sewed on one side of the waistband, inserted the side zip,  finished the vents etc. Despite having changed the contour waistband pieces in line with the skirt pattern changes,  I found that the front band was short so had to make up a new one. My seam lines matched across the zip and at the top.

With the skirt nearly finished,  I tried it on again and found that it was a touch loose (I've been losing weight, though it's come to a halt and this project took ages for various reasons). Never mind,  it wasn't too bad so I finished and hemmed the skirt.

Front - stance has altered lie

This morning (Monday past),  I tried it on (a touch loose but not too bad),  David took a couple of photos and I wore it to bridge (these are the photos I'm showing). By the time I got home,  I thought it might slip off without taking the zip down! The back of the skirt was lying lower than the front and the side seams were sloping towards the front. I could very easily pinch an inch! All from the back.

Front - you see what I mean about the pattern reproduction!

A wiggle to show vent movement. Top out

Side - you can see the sloping waist. Lying fairly level at this stage

At sewing bee that night, still wearing the skirt, I asked Dan to help correct it. I reckoned the front was okay but the back was too big and wondered about adding a back seam or taking in at at the top of the princess seams leading to the vents. Dan concluded that the sides needed reduced by 3.5cms to each side at the waist and by 2.5cms to each side seam. A lot!  After the skirt was pinned,  it felt much more comfortable. I don't have photos of that.

Question. Do I make the changes to this skirt or accept it as a disposable toile? The fabric isn't nice. It crushes far too readily, it's rather stiff, causes migraine and is difficult to match.  It was the wrong choice for this skirt. Also,  of course,  I might make these changes and find a nice fabric doesn't need the same changes. After all,  the skirt grew during the day.

I'm going to put it aside for the moment in any case as I have other more pressing tasks - number 1 is reassembling Helen's wedding dress by Easter. I would welcome your views. I'd also rather wear trousers! The trousers are coming along but are not nearly there yet.

Another UFO finished - summer skirt

Another UFO finished!

This is the last of my UFO posts - at least for a very long time

I did view C

I think it must be 4 years ago now. I took my original sewing machine to a dealer for a service as it was struggling.  I actually thought it was me causing problems due to my inexperience as I was trying to take up dressmaking with no previous experience. The machine was declared dead. It had many problems including a timing problem that couldn't be fixed locally and would cost a lot to send away. Then the rust on one side and wear on the other of a really important part would come into play. I bought a replacement that used the same feet and was light enough to take to class - Alison has this machine now.

I was looking,  unsuccessfully, for a dressmaking class and this dealer,  a quilt shop,  ran a dressmaking class once a month, bringing in a tutor specially. I started with the mandatory pyjamas. The tutor also had a day class making a skirt - everyone making the same skirt. McCall's 3830.

Obviously,  we all wanted it to fit!

I bought my original fabric from the shop - at the time the most expensive fabric I had ever bought. I loved the fabric but when prewashing and preparing found a significant  flaw. The flaw turned out to be present through the whole bolt. For the class I chose this Art Gallery fabric in its place and didn't get the chance to prewash as it was bought on the day. I do like the fabric but the diagonal pattern made matching very difficult.

Lovely fabric but very awkward diagonal pattern match

My skirt was huge. I didn't get it finished. I can't find a photo of the original skirt before it was pinned tighter. Oh, of course, I should say there was no toile/muslin as it was supposed to be completed in the one day. I don't know if anyone actually achieved that. Years later, I met someone else who had been there (neither of us remembered the other) and who had completely abandoned her unfinished skirt. One of the reasons I like to do toiles.

It's inside out here - I hope you can see how big it was! Can you just see where I have basted it a lot smaller?

On another occasion I took it to class - by now I had found a class,  sewing bee,  which I still attend - and Lyn pinned me in. A lot needed to be taken off. I needed to alter the facings to fit. However,  I found trying to match the pattern in any sensible way very difficult. I did try and spent a long time doing so but didn't succeed in any meaningful way.  The pattern was abandoned again.

So it was in my UFO box.

The skirt had been pinned and basted to the size I was then - significantly smaller than I am now.  I had pinned in a zip ready for a centred application. I hand tacked then machine basted this in. I took out the sides to the original size and found my current size is between the skirt pattern size (too much ease ) and the size it had been pinned to. I machine basted in place.

Original centred zip pinned in. I tacked and machine basted this before deciding against it.

Then I remembered that the fabric had never been washed so I washed and tumble dried it.  I hoped it wouldn't shrink too much though as I'm currently losing weight I wasn't too worried and it's a bit on the long side, so I could cope with a little shrinkage.

I hadn't finished any of the edges. I took out the centred zip completely,  overlocked all the seam edges and inserted a concealed zipper instead. That went in well. I was reminded at that point, though,  that to get the best pattern match at the back there is a step between the two sides of the back and I needed to take that into account.

I tried on the skirt at this point and it was fine! Or will be in another half stone time! Or rather when my prominent abdomen shrinks a bit. It would probably benefit from a lining but that's not on my agenda for this skirt. I might wear an underskirt.

The facing had been altered to fit and was too small. I asked advice about whether to try to recut the facings,  using the altered skirt as the pattern or to use bias binding. I had enough fabric to replace them.  I drew up the new facings on paper. The waistline was rather uneven,  not only between the sides but also along the length. That needed to be evened out.

At class,  Lyn advised that I try the skirt on and she marked the waistline. I trimmed it to that point. In some cases, I  had very little seam allowance so the facing was going to need to be attached with a ¼” seam allowance.

This led to a slight problem - I had already inserted the zip. It means that the zip is lower than it would be and had left a gap - solution,  hook and eye.

Facings

My mind was elsewhere and I cut the facings wrongly so they had to be redone. Twice!

In the end,  I managed to attach the narrow interfaced facings with a ¼” SA and understitched.  They look OK and pressed nicely. The loose edge is overlocked. The facings are attached at the zip, some of the darts and the sides.

Kick pleat/ vent

I'd only done one of these before - on Helen's tweed skirt. I  needed to look carefully at instructions as I really had little recollection how to do it. There was one on my jacket last term,  but I didn't get as far as doing that, and that one was lined. I still have that to look forward to. I checked the process with Lyn before I continued.  In fact it was quite straightforward, even though the unevenness caused by my pattern matching shift made it a little more complex. I bagged the hem at the vent.

Hem

No particular issues here. I'm not sure about the best length as it will depend on footwear. Also,  I'm hoping to lose rather more weight which will make the skirt hang longer. So this is a compromise. It's simply overlocked,  turned up ⅝” and top stitched at ½”.

Finished!   

Some puckers from my too large tum but it should be good in a month or so. The facings are nicely sewn.

Side view - some puckers from my too large tum. I may shorten, but not sure if I can because of the vent

My invisible zip is exactly that!

That was a lot of work. More work,  really,  than starting from scratch. I  do like the skirt,  though - nice fabric.  I have a much clearer idea of what alterations to make if I remade this skirt in a different fabric - so you might say this skirt has been finished 4 years too late and is in some ways a wearable toile!!

One more UFO dealt with. I'm not doing any more at present as I have other projects which take precedence.

Update on my mother - she is feeling rather better. We looked after her for 3 days following her discharge from hospital but were able to return home tonight. We can't stay with my mother, which makes it slightly more awkward, though the accommodation we used was very close by. She's too independent to allow us around for much longer though I'm going back next weekend.

Is it a good idea?

I got completely rid of my first UFO today. The dress pieces, the toile made in the same fabric including the zip from the toile all gone - at least, the pieces are in the scrap bag ready to take to class. There is also a leftover piece of the fabric but to be honest, I can't stand it anymore. Too much hassle in the process of working through this garment.

I am a Scot, though! The zip was perfectly fine, I thought, and quite expensive to get the colour I wanted. So I decided to unpick it. It's a concealed/invisible zip. I sewed it in over interfacing to give some strength and some structure to the rather floppy fabric. I remember (now! after the unpicking!) that I had some problems sewing this zip because the teeth seemed slightly too big for my concealed zipper foot, which normally works very well. In fact, the zip that I threw out was cut apart as I couldn't get it out of the toile - that was a while ago, so I think I can be forgiven for forgetting. Rory put that zip in using a standard foot or a ordinary zipper foot when I couldn't get it to go in at all using my concealed zipper foot. Back to this one - because the teeth were a little sticky in the zipper foot, some of the stitches were VERY tiny. I wasn't too worried as that was the 'final' version of the dress.

So the problem was that I had great difficulty getting this zip out. In fact, now remembering the issues with sewing it in (it's a decent quality zip) maybe I should have jettisoned it too, especially given that I have jettisoned the matching fabric! Why the problems getting it out? First and foremost, the tiny stitches in certain areas. Secondly, my thread matched TOO well! I couldn't see the stitches even using my magnifying light. Fortunately in places I could see the tiny stitches showing against the white of the interfacing. The fabric tore in a few places. I was careful to avoid stretching or cutting the zipper tape.

Zip out. Thread ends still there.

You can see how closely the thread matches zip. This is very magnified.
At the left of the photo, see how the stitches nestle right against the zipper teeth
The stitching along the middle of the tape is to secure and I use as basting

Showing stitches nestling against zipper teeth

So my question to myself - and you! As this is a concealed zip where the stitching doesn't show - would I have been better using a less well matching thread to guard against the need to unpick? What do you think? David feels that would be a rather negative approach, foreseeing failure rather than success and advocates using matching thread - the thread that matches the garment if there is a slight mismatch between the garment and the zip as he believes in cutting down the variables. I see his point - and I do baste etc in advance of the final stitching.

Also - any suggestions for sewing in a zip that my concealed zipper foot really doesn't like? I did slightly open the zipper teeth using an iron, which I do find helpful usually, but not in this case.

I don't normally have any problems putting in invisible zippers. I definitely think it was the tooth size in this particular zipper - in fact, in this particular colour. Though, I wonder about the thread too. Could it have been a little on the thick side? However, I use Gutermann threads which are generally good though I did have one large reel of black that gave off fluff while sewing to a huge extent.

My camera battery went flat and the photos I thought I had taken didn't register on the sd card! I din't realise that could happen - and I didn't get any warning, so hopefully it is that and not something more serious. I've took a couple on my phone but had to wait until other tasks were done before posting. I cooked today with harissa paste, which I've never used before. Moroccan turkey kebabs - for tomorrow and freezer  and Mediterranean fish cakes for the freezer. Both Slimming World recipes.

Perfecting pattern for Helen's red silk dress; part 4. Getting rid of UFOs. Weight loss update

Altering Pattern Pieces

It might seem premature to start working on the pattern for Helen's red silk dress before I've had feedback about how the green toile fits.

While making the toile I was aware of issues which needed to be addressed. Even if the size is otherwise perfect and that's unlikely.

Cutting single layer - making full size pattern pieces

This is the biggy for me. The difficulties I had with the back were due to me cutting on the fold and the fabric slipping. I have already redrawn the back skirt as one full skirt piece, though I will have to modify and I will be redrawing the front of the dress as one full piece, too. I don't need to alter the back bodice pieces, unless I just do another piece to help with fabric layout. I haven't yet done the front.

Princess seams

In the final dress, the seams will be overlocked together pressed to one side and top stitched as in the original. They are not French seamed, though with a fine silk that would presumably be possible. Helen wants me to identically mimic the original so I’ll overlock and stitch over the overlocking. I need to buy some better colour overlocker threads. Note to self - put on my to do/to buy list

The first issue was the way the princess seams had to be folded on the back bodice of the dress. One side is rather curved,  the other is straight and Dan pointed out that the seam wouldn't lie in the direction of the curved seam. I therefore trued up the seams to allow them to lie in the direction they wanted to. A few minor changes but which should improve the sewing experience. I hadn’t realised this. I always find it fascinating the little tips I pick up which aren’t given consciously, really, but are part of the experience my tutors have.

Armhole

I also had to true the back armhole,  shaving a little off the area where the princess seam meets the armhole. I had to trim this area on the toile. There had been a small projection in this area,  as a consequence of the way the seams were trying to lie.

I carefully smoothed out the front armhole curve after folding out the dart. I had done this previously but I felt the edge was raggy.  It's better now.

I'm not doing these in order of completion.

Dress length

The sides of the dress were a good bit shorter than the front in particular but also the back.  Doing the toile, I trimmed the front after measuring from the floor. I wasn't sure how to make changes to the pattern and asked Dan's advice. She advised adding to the side seam to smooth out what is effectively a dip at that point. This would give me more leeway. The hem would still need to be evened in the same way as for the toile on the final dress. I haven't actually done that as yet - I'll do it when I redraw the pattern pieces.

External band at waist

I decided to slightly lengthen the band at the waistband - by 3 cms but haven't redrawn the pattern piece yet.

Pocket, pocket flap, poppets

Most of my time in class was spent on the pocket and this has been redrawn.

First,  I marked on the pattern front where the pocket was to go. This was pocket size without seam allowances. I attached pattern front and back at the side seams and continued the pocket across the seam. There will be a lot of drill holes marking corners  etc. I will also make card versions.

The two pieces are not stuck together here and have slipped slightly. 

After discussion with Rory and examination of the toile,  we concluded that there had to be additional support behind the poppets or they would tear out almost instantly. You'll remember the original dress doesn't have this and Helen doesn't want it. However,  the original dress has torn in that area. I don't  want to put a lot of effort into something which will tear so readily. I'll discuss with Helen.

Anyway,  I concluded I wanted to put an interfaced facing piece onto the pocket edge and the area where the poppets attach. Just a couple of cms wide but it should make all the difference. I will overlock so that there isn't extra bulk and move the facing away from the side seams where several layers come together.

Rory also helped me with the proper placement of the pocket flap and with the placement of the poppets.  Once I had it explained what the principles were,  I was able to fine tune this myself.

In class,  I also drew up the facing for the pocket. That's not in the photo for some reason.

I will redraw all pieces onto fresh paper and make cardboard templates for the pockets and the flaps to help make the seam allowances even.

I have ordered some suitable snaps and a Snapsetter (as recommended by Seamstress Erin). They are coming from the US, I believe, so will take a little while. We weren't very happy with the system we used though it did work.

Inside the toile pocket there are some raw edges and I need to think more carefully how to ensure this doesn't happen. Dan  also advised me on how to attach the flap in a better manner. One side on the toile is unsatisfactory.

The toile,  of course, was designed to help me with fit and with construction. I'm now much clearer about how to construct the final garment. Writing this, though, I realise I haven't completely worked out all issues (I'm thinking of bias binding at neck and armhole edges) but at least I'm getting there.

I waited before posting the toile as I needed to let Rory see it. Helen has now received it, says she loves it, has sent me a (poor) photo and intends to wear it to work today (Friday 27th January) and out for a birthday celebration tonight - presumably an after works drink. I didn't specify the problems I saw - and I guess if Helen doesn't see them, or doesn't care, well that's fine. I can't tell from the photo whether it fits well or needs any further modification.

I may as well wait now until I get feedback before completing the pattern modifications.

Broken Foot Control

At the sewing bee yesterday, I dropped my foot control getting it out of my sewing machine bag (I like to take my own sewing machine). We're a little cramped, to say the least. As it hit the floor, the control broke into 3 pieces - top, bottom and a spring. My tutor put it together apparently ok but unfortunately it was stuck and couldn't be used. I spent the rest of the class using the foot free start/stop control which I don't really like - I prefer the foot pedal and the knee lift as this gives me greater use of my hands.

My husband was reluctant to pull it apart although he didn't think it was broken. I saw a bit of plastic which I thought had sheared but he pointed out that it couldn't be as otherwise the pedal wouldn't ever have been able to move. I phoned my machine dealer, expecting to have to go and possibly replace the pedal, but he gave us instructions over the phone and the pedal is now working. At least I hope it is - I haven't tried it in earnest but it is moving freely. It seems that this is a fairly common issue.

Another Hack for Joanne? Postponed

I need to take a break from Helen's dress for a while. I want to make a couple of things for myself and Joanne, who is visiting at the moment, has asked me to hack a top she likes but which doesn't fit well - bust gathers gather on top of the bust instead of underneath, the length is pulled up at the front and feels too short. I have a couple of patterns with some similarities and I'd prefer to start there rather than with another full blown hack. I plan to use the pattern of the bodice for Joanne's bridesmaids dress to help with sizing, though as Dan pointed out that is for woven whereas this  top is stretch. Unfortunately, Joanne forgot to leave the top when she left to go back and so I think I'll leave that for a bit - we'll be visiting in 3 weeks.

UFOs

I thought perhaps a slightly snazzier image would make me feel better about these!

The first thing I do for myself will be a really simple UFO. I’ve decided I either complete the UFOs lying around or they go out - they are just taking up space both physically and emotionally. I’ve already abandoned a couple of UFO projects so I feel I have made real progress! I had decided to enter the PR UFO contest but as I have abandoned every project bar one I’ve picked up so far, that may not happen! I guess I can see why I abandoned these projects.

Abandoned projects

Simplicity 1156 - I suspect this is abandoned forever
Although Dan pinned this tighter, making the dress more satisfactory than it was prior to that, sorry it just doesn't work for me. I still find it frumpy and the length is not right - it is too short at the back, longer at the front, and overall just not an attractive length - I couldn't even the dress by trimming from the front (the dress is already hemmed) as overall I would prefer it longer. I also took off the bias binding around the neck and armholes (I can't remember why!!) so too much to do, anyway. This fabric will be discarded after I mark the changes from Dan's fitting onto my pattern - in case.

I've shown the skinny pattern version rather than the one on me, which is elsewhere on this blog, regrettably!
If you want you could search for it

Vogue 1082 skirt
There is just too much to do and as I am losing weight, it doesn't seem worth modifying the fit at this stage. I will wait until autumn as it's more a cool weather skirt in any case. The fabric I used is a summer weight cotton but I don't feel it suits the skirt. This really would be more of a toile for fit. I do like this skirt very much.

The skirt has been partially sewn up, basted and taken apart again - a mess of fabric pieces and threads

Sewing case
I didn't understand the instructions and didn't have all the materials I needed at the time - the interfacing was difficult to get (I have it now). I just don't need it at this stage.

Thread catcher.
Again, I didn't understand the instructions. It will have to wait - too much to do. This is not technically a UFO as I hadn't really started. I would like one but there are alternatives.

Trousers McCall's 6901
They are a million miles away with fit so not at this stage. The fabric will be discarded. actually, I probably won't use the pattern again, either.

No - I refuse to post the version I have; besides it's in pieces!

I also have trousers that I was going to hack. They had a tear so I had actually taken them apart and cut them up. Unfortunately I don't know if they would be anywhere close to fitting me now! Undecided what to do as yet.

Rory is going to drape me for a trouser block, hopefully starting next week or shortly thereafter. She originally asked me for my'best fitting pattern'. Sorry, there isn't one!

I am also going to another pattern hack class with Dan.

Postponed projects

The dress I hacked at Dan's last class, intended possibly as a MOB outfit for one of the events.

This is me in the original dress. The hacked version is plain grey

No photo of my version. The lining is great and fits really well but the outside needs work. I can't yet decide whether to take this garment with me to the new pattern hack class. Makes sense, doesn't it? In a way. On the other hand, something new that would fit in with my more immediate plans - a jacket or trousers would work better.

This wouldn't technically count as a UFO for the PR contest anyway as I will have to modify the outside layer of the dress which will probably mean re-cutting. The pattern certainly needs trued.You need to have cut out all the main pieces prior to October and I haven't. I'd like to finish this dress but I'm not in a hurry.

UFOs I will hopefully complete

Lace cardigan - more details in another post. Needs a fastening and the sleeves shortened.

Pattern envelope, now gone

This is from March 2016. Nearly done, just need to stitch hems on sleeves now -
sleeves looks short in photo but they are way too long

Skirt McCall's 3830 - more details in another post

The original was too big, taken in to too small, needs modified to intermediate state! Doable.

The fabric

These two would count as UFOs for the PR contest

The other UFOs that I have, which wouldn't count for the PR UFO contest are the two jackets I'm making but put off over Christmas and until now. They don't count because I haven't cut out the main fabric, just toile fabric and probably I was still working on them after the latest date, anyway. They will get done, soonish.

McCall's 6172 - just about ready to cut into main fabric. Boiled wool.

Grainline Morris Blazer - will be in lightweight boiled wool I suspect. nearly ready to go

Weight loss update

I was Slimmer of the Month for January with a weight loss of 12 lbs. 4 lbs this week despite Joanne being here - but I wasn't slimmer of the week as someone had lost 6 lbs and another had lost 5 lbs!! I thought 4 was impressive. The only time I ever lost more was when I was ill.

I'd like to carry on losing 2 lbs per week for a bit. 2 lbs this coming week would take me to 1 stone lost. That would be great.