Houndstooth Check Coat

How ridiculous is it that I made a coat in summer? I mean talk about an unseasonable make. I literally cannot wear this for a few more months but at least that gives me some time to sort out the issues I have with it. 

For starters yes this is a LOT of coat. Its definitely not a coat for the shrink violet kind of person. Luckily I've grown into my weirdness so I love it and I'll wear it with pride. 

The fabric itself is from the Abakhans fill a bag sale and I knew I HAD to make a coat from it as soon as I saw it. There was about 2.5/3m of it and it filled about a third of a bag so it cost around £3/4 for the lot. 

The pattern is by prima and I already used it to make this coat. I extended the pattern by about 30cm because I only wear winter coats if they cover my bum. Mainly because if the coat covers your bum you don't have to worry about if your dress has got stuck to your tights and ridden up because no one can see it anyway.

I added in seam pockets because I like to have somewhere to keep my keys in my coat. They turned out pretty nicely but they do sit better when the coat is open rather than when its closed! 

The coat is fully lined in some cotton that I had in my stash. Truthfully the lining is pulling in a lot of these pictures. I've done some measuring and the lining is slightly longer than the coat so it shouldn't be pulling. However! It is a cotton rather than a slippery fabric [Slippery fabrics are typically used for linings because they are easier to get on and off] and I think the cotton is snagging on the clothes I wear underneath so I either need to detach the lining at the bottom of the coat and leave it open or I need to take out the whole lining and put a new one in.

Here you can see how bag the pulling is. Funnily enough I put it on ten minutes later and there was no pulling. I did put it on a lot more carefully though and putting on a coat carefully is not something I want to be faffing around with.

Its got belt loops and a belt instead of buttons and I really like it however Lil man immediately asked me why I;d made a new dressing gown *sobs*

The material was quite a loose weave so I over locked every single piece before I started sewing. Which yes took bloody ages but was worth it for the piece of mind that it won't just fall apart after one wash or wear. 

I love the really big collar. I think it looks super cool. Rikki however said that the whole coat made me look like Huggy Bear, who I was hoping was going to be a fun Disney character but as it turns out Huggy Bear is a pimp from Starsky and Hutch and was played by Snoop Dog in the remake. Which not gonna lie made me feel a bit better about the comment because Snoop Dog is awesome.  

Also my hair doesn't look like this any more. In fact its back to blonde with a few pink streaks. I'm currently taking suggestions for what to do next with my hair. 

So all in all I really really love this coat I just have no chance to wear it at the moment which sucks. However I'm not complaining about the weather because its been quite nice not to be soggy all the time if you catch my drift? I feel like our winters are so wet and miserable that I spend most of my time trying to dry my coat or shoes and never quite getting them less than damp before I have to wear them again! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

Halter Neck top - Simplicity 1365 - #simplicitysewingchallenge

So I finished my first make for the #simplicitysewingchallenge a few days ago and to be honest I think I'm just about used to it.

I mean its a halter top, and its backless.....and its low cut........and well its really cropped! I mean seriously when I looked at the pattern artwork I had no idea that it would be this short! Not only can you see my belly button but you can also see about 3/4 inches of flesh above it as well.

In fact when I first tried it on I was wearing my pyjama bottoms [standard sewing attire] which where low slung and the sheer amount of flesh I was exposing nearly made me pee myself laughing! 

Luckily though I tried it with some high waisted jeans the next day and got a second opinion! My fella said and I quote "It's nice [at this point I turned around exposing my pretty much bare back] but I think it might be better for more sunny places? like on holiday?" I think hes worried I might catch a chill! Then I tried it on with this high waisted wrap skirt, and basically felt like the biggest sexpot ever!!! [In a good way!]   

So details! The fabric is a lovely light cotton with a yellow floral pattern that I think my Nan gave me! I have just enough for this top which makes me think that their might be a greater plan for all of us!

The pattern is Simplicity 1365 and its a 1970's vintage pattern. The pattern artwork is gorgeous and it have four views. but two of them have peplums, have I ever talked about my sheer hatred of peplums? no remind me and I'll get round to it!

Being a fan of the 70's in general I knew this was the pattern for me when I saw it as a option for the simplicity sewing challenge [you can read more about the rules here] that and the fact that I didn't like any of the other patterns!!!

I cut a size 12 in this. My measurements corresponded to a size fourteen but I measured the pattern pieces and decided that the less ease in something like this, the better. More ease means more risk of boob popping out situations! And I'd say the fit is pretty spot on!

The top is fully lined which is great especially seen as you have to go sans bra [I seem to be spending rather a lot of time sans bra at the moment!]And its also nice because it means there are no raw edges next to the skin.... which makes sense because of ahem...chaffing, which I'm guessing is more problematic sans bra.

And to say I;'m bra less I feel pretty darn secure, I'm not sure if its because of the double layer of fabric or the gathers that's sort of cup and lift the boob area all on their own! Although I'm not sure how well it would support for someone of a slightly larger bust? But I'm sure their are ways you could add things like interfacing and bra making bits to give more support! In fact I might add some light interfacing to the midriff front of my second version the stop the wrinkles you get when you tie it at the back. You can get rid of these wrinkles if you tie it looser but then I don't feel quite as secure!

The collar, I mean THE COLLAR! Can you actually get more 70's? well probably but OMG I think I've found my soulmate! I thought it might be too big, In fact I even considered grading it down to be smaller but boy am I glad I kept it big! After all bigger is better! The collar is the only interfaced part of the garment and you definitely don't want to skip interfacing it!! I used a fairly thick interfacing so It would stay lovely and structured, and I used a sew in rather than an iron on interfacing so It wouldn't be ruined with those unsightly wrinkles you can sometimes get.

The only really time consuming part of the entire make was the grading and trimming and clipping of where the seams all meet at the bottom of the collar. I mean seriously it has a centre front seam, the lining centre front seam, the collar, the collar lining and the interfacing!!!!!! Its a lot to handle and I definitely recommend trimming as you go. otherwise you'll find yourself drowning in bulk!

Your also gonna want to pay attention to all the information about stay stitching and under stitching to make sure things don't stretch and gape! And IRON! I mean seriously the amount of pressing this thing requires is ridiculous but its all worth it in the end! 

All in all! I actually kind of love it! I mean its completely out of my comfort zone, I actually feel like I might have stumbled into the wardrobe of some awesome 70's disco chick or Marilyn Monroe [wrong era same vibes]. But Its awesome! I mean its a pretty sexy top and I think It's the kind of thing you need to confidence to be at a high for, but I think with the right bottom and shoes It makes for a pretty great outfit!!! In fact I'd go as far as to say I can;t wait to make my second version!!!! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

FYI- I dint pay for this pattern because they are sending them out free to those who are taking part! 

Collared Sleeveless GBSB blouse

So I have a new make to show! After making the pussy bow blouse from the GBSB book fashion with fabric I immediately decided to make the hacked collared version. So I quickly added lightweight drapey material to my shopping list ready and waiting for when I actually go fabric shopping.

Then something wonderful happened, A lovely lady who reads my blog got in touch and asked if I'd like some of her patterns as she was having a clear out? Obviously I said yes! Then the same lovely lady sent me some fabric that she wasn't going to use...... all I can say is WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!! I'm officially adopting her.

So there was three different fabrics in the parcel [shout out to her husband who was lovely enough to take them to the post office] but the one that immediately caught my eye was a drapey, spotty, soft fabric thing..... I'm not sure what the technical term is?

Okay so I'm wearing it open [Its styled buttoned up in the book], I have this weird thing where I like my neck and chest to be free, its weird I don't know why, but I do. I also have boobs [they used to be bigger] so I still tend to dress for my old bigger boob that couldn't really be contained. Now they are more manageable but I still fell the need to flaunt some cleavage.

Sewing wise its a pretty easy make you just have to pay close attention to cutting and pinning your pattern pieces, no seriously this is the type of fabric that moves faster than Severus Snape confronted with a bar of soap.

I'm really going for the tucked in style at the moment I seem to be tucking everything in, not sure why? Maybe its because its getting colder and my mum always tucked me in when it was cold so I wouldn't get a cold tummy?

I really should have ironed this at some point but I was so terrified so burning a massive hole in my work that I decided not to, I think air drying it on a hanger might help with some of the wrinkles.

All in all I really love it, I think its flattering and I like the collar, although I might attach it differently if I make it again.

The only variations I really make was marking my own buttonholes [I used the sweetest tiny mother of pearl buttons on this] and backing my collar in a lightweight cotton. I did this for two reasons , one I ran out of the spotty stuff and substitutions had to be made and secondly because I had a brainwave, you see with a cotton on the underside of the collar I can safely iron it! Without the heat having to touch the spotty fabric! GENIUS!

Not quite sure what happened with this picture? But I like it because I look creepy and stuff.

I've shown it buttoned up/down and tucked and untucked, I'm not 100% on which style I prefer to be honest.

Wow I look grumpy and tired in these pictures. Lil knitwit is still being delightfully stubborn and naughty which is tiring to say the least, there's nothing quite like getting up at seven in the morning to wake up a child, who then screams at you, because you put his sock on wrong. because I love getting up early, and walking in the cold so you can sing humpty dumpty at nursery........ alternatively maybe I should just learn the art of properly applying socks to feet.

I'm also grouchy because it became apparent that we have something else living in our shed apart from our bunny rabbit "Ronnie". I've had my suspicions but I put the scuttled noises down to things falling over or the wind. The bag of rabbit food nibbled open and the un rabbit shaped poop on the floor was slightly harder to avoid. So I spent yesterday cleaning out the shed, putting all food into sealed tins and putting down rat poison. Yes I think its a rat, they are pretty hefty poops to be a mouse. I suppose it could be a squirrel? God I hope its a squirrel, I hate rats.

Anyway our rodent suspicions were confirmed today when we saw next doors cat sat staring at our shed. all I can say is "faster kitty cat, kill, kill kill!".

I'm calling this picture "was that a rat?"

Much Love

Frankie

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