12 in 2012 Update and a Revision

 

So, I’m coming up to the half-way mark for my 12 in 2012 challenge (omg, has nearly half the year gone by already??!!) and I thought it was time to reflect on my progress and see what I still needed to focus on. Let’s have a look at how things are looking at the moment:

12 Pieces of Handmade Clothing:
1. Shirt (or shirt dress)
2. Jacket
3. Trousers
4. Some sort of under-garment - Lace Bandeau Knickers (inc. a tutorial)
5. Pencil skirt – I just have to hem this and then can tick this off
6. Summer Dress - A Nautical Knit
7. Bombshell Dress
8.Wildcard! - Pink Curtain Skirt
9. Wildcard! - Primrose Cowl Top - Purple Voile
10.Wildcard! - Primrose Cowl Top - Black polkadot chiffon
11. Wildcard! - Ikat and Lace shift dress
12.Wildcard! - Black and white shift dress

12 New Sewing Techniques:
1. Collar
2. Sleeves
3. Lapped zip
4. Hand-picked zip - Pink Curtain Skirt
5. Mitered corners
6. Baby/rolled hem - Self-drafted Cowl Top
      - Also used on my Lace Bandeau Knickers (with overlocker)
7. Piping
8. Scallops
9. Inset a Godet
10. Make own bias binding
11. Underlining
12. Boning

12 New Sewing Skills:
1. Sew from a vintage pattern - A Nautical Knit
2. Draft a skirt sloper/block
3. Draft a bodice sloper/block
4. Make a self-drafted half-circle skirt
5. Remove and replace a zip from a bought garment
6. Make my own Croquis...in progress
7. Sew with jersey - A Nautical Knit
8. Try patchwork
9. Make a garment from a Burda Magazine pattern (successfully!)
10. Learn to use an overlocker/serger
         - first post
- Rolled hem
11. Learn to crochet
12. Make a Colette Patterns garment

So I am well on target for my 12 pieces of handmade clothing, with only 4 more items to complete the list, but I’m sadly falling behind with my sewing techniques and sewing skills! On reflection I can see that, while I thought I was tying these lists together, I realise that I could have been a lot smarter. For example I have listed that I want to ‘make a self-drafted half-circle skirt’ under my sewing skills list, but I didn’t add it as one of the pieces of handmade clothing list! That was a bit of a slip-up there really. I also gave myself some ‘wildcards’ with the thought that you can’t plan a whole years worth of sewing because you never know what life if going to throw at you (like getting engaged!), but I should have built these into my techniques and skills lists too unfortunately.

With these thoughts in mind, I have decided to revise my 12 in 2012 goals:

12 Pieces of Handmade Clothing:
1. Some sort of under-garment - Lace Bandeau Knickers (inc. a tutorial)
2. Pleated Skirt - Pink Curtain Skirt
3. Cowl Top - Primrose Cowl Top - Purple Voile
                  - Primrose Cowl Top - Black polkadot chiffon
4. Shift Dress - Ikat and Lace shift dress
                     - Black and white shift dress
5. Summer Dress - A Nautical Knit
6. Pencil skirt – I just have to hem this and then can tick this off
7. Bombshell Dress (Craftsy Class)
8. Half-circle skirt
9. Jacket
10. Couture dress (Craftsy Class)
11. Shirt dress
12. Cape – (I have started this, so I’m keen to actually complete it!)

12 New Sewing Techniques:
1. Hand-picked zip - Pink Curtain Skirt
2. Baby/rolled hem - Self-drafted Cowl Top
- Also used on my Lace Bandeau Knickers (with overlocker)
3. Underlining (Bombshell and Couture dress)
4. Boning (Bombshell dress)
5. Carbon paper marking (Bombshell and Couture dress)
6. Thread-traced seams (Bombshell and Couture dress)
7. Setting sleeves (jacket and maybe couture dress)
8. Collar (shirt dress)
9. Buttonholes (shirt dress)
10. Working with silk organza (couture dress)
10. ?
11. ?
12. ?

12 New Sewing Skills:
1. Sew from a vintage pattern - A Nautical Knit
2. Make my own Croquis...in progress
3. Sew with jersey - A Nautical Knit
4. Learn to use an overlocker/serger
- first post
- Rolled hem
5. Make a self-drafted half-circle skirt
6. Remove and replace a zip from a bought garment (I have a charity shop dress that needs this done!)
7. Make a garment from a Burda Magazine pattern (successfully!) (Bombshell dress and jacket)
8. Draft own pattern (Primrose Cowl Top)
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. ?

 

We shall see how I get on with my revised lists now! I have two MAJOR projects still to complete (the Bombshell and the Couture dresses) so I hope I’m not biting off more than I can chew…

How is everyone else getting on with their own 12 in 2012 lists? And revisions required or are you all sticking to your plans better than me?

A Nautical Knit

Ahoy there! Long-time, no blog! Sorry about the lack of blogging around here recently – I’ve been going through a lot of stressful/emotional/unnecessary-to-blog-about wedding-related crap recently (who knew I would find planning a wedding one of the most un-enjoyable things I’ve ever done!!) and it’s zapped my sewing mo-jo a bit. But I think I’m turning a corner and things could be looking up…after all, I have a lovely new jersey dress to wear!

This is my first proper attempt to sew with jersey (previously I made this skirt…but it was super-duper easy so I wasn’t really counting it!) and I used my lovely overlocker as much as possible. The jersey that I bought was part of a big haul that I picked up during a sale at my local fabric shop. I loved the stripes (I am a sucker for anything striped!), but it’s rather drapey, and while that might be nice for the end result, trying to tame it while sewing was a bit trickier than I thought. I had also planned for this to be a maxi-dress, but unfortunately didn’t have enough fabric for this pattern.

 

The pattern I used was McCall’s 5490, a ‘vintage’ 70’s pattern from an Ebay job-lot I won a few years back. It is specifically for stretch-knits…but requires a zip at the back. I don’t get that! I knew my jersey was stretchy enough to not need a zip, plus I knew a zip would weigh the fabric down, so I omitted it.

You may be able to see that the pattern also comes with your classic 70’s mega-collar. Not normally my style, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. Turns out, I didn’t have enough fabric to add the collar! I was a bit disappointed about that, but I do like the dress as is nonetheless.

 

I cut the front yolk and the waist tie with the stripes perpendicular to the main body for a nice contrast effect, which I really love. The waist tie (or empire-line tie really!) is a god-send because without it the dress would be a bit sac-like. It does have a bit of shaping, but the tie really pulls it all in and make it a lot more flattering.

It’s not perfectly executed by any means, but as a first attempt at jersey, I’m pretty happy! I can see myself wearing this a LOT over the Summer (Northern Irish weather permitting!!!).

 

12 in 2012 update:

I am please to say that this project ticks off a massive THREE goals from my 12 in 2012 list:

12 Pieces of Handmade Clothing:

• A Summer Dress

12 New Sewing Skills:

• Sew from a vintage pattern
• Sew with jersey

Woo-hoo!!

Right…I’m off now to kick some wedding-planning butt!

 

P.S. For those of you who may be curious the photos were taken on Ballyholme beach, N.I. (where future-hubs and I are hoping to move to soon…if the wedding doesn’t consume all of our savings!!!)