Wednesday 22 February 2012

Things to Make & Do - A Colette Set

Hello!  I want to say a quick welcome to my new followers I hope you enjoy being here, )and before I forget I am having a few blogger glitches at the moment, one of them being on the 'Blogs I love' widget (to the left). It is refusing to let me add any new blogs to the roll and has deleted off some of the others. I can only fix it by adding one at a time and then saving which takes ages, so please don't think I've gone off you if you blog isn't showing, it's just it going to take a while to add you all back!

This weeks project is a Stash Buster and UFO Slayer all in one! After giving my fabric a thorough sort through recently I found two pieces of black satin, which I had cut out to make a late 60's A-line wrap dress (this was a UFO I had completely forgotten about...it may even be older than my never finished tank top!)
 
I really wanted (actually I still do) to make the maxi version of this dress, in black satin, but I ran out of fabric!


I remember that I had intended to make this to wear to a work Christmas party, many moons ago, but being the rush-in-head-first kind of a girl that I am, I completely underestimated the amount of fabric it would take to make (read the instructions..what me?!) and so ended up a meter and a bit short, which meant that no matter how many different ways I tried to fit the three pieces on the fabric, it was never going to fit. I was short by one front section and when I went back to the shop to buy more fabric...guess what?..yep it had all gone!

So it was time to put this UFO to rest and re-purpose some of that fabric into something wearable. A quick look through my patterns reminded me that I had printed out a couple of free patterns from Colette - The Sorbetto & The Madeline Mini Bloomers - which were small enough to fit on the fabric I had left.


The Sorbetto Top

(Stash Buster)
Designed By: Sarai Mitnick
Download FREE Here: The Sorbetto Top
Flikr: Sorbetto

Ingredients

  • 1.5 yards of Fabric
  • Spool of Matching Thread
  • 3 yards 1/2" Bias Tape

This was a blissfully simple pattern to sew, It is made up of only two pieces both cut on the fold, the front has a central pleat and has two bust darts to give it some shape. The instructions were very well written and easy to follow.

I decide against making my own bias binding as I found the perfect matching satin bias binding in my stash. I have always struggled with attaching this stuff before, but it was so well explained in the instructions that it was a doodle, inevitably I now want to attach it to everything!



The only tricky bit I found was when hemming the bottom, due to the outward flick on the bottom of the pattern it refused to be hemmed neatly, it went all wobbly and baggy - Any tips on making this work I would really appreciate - Not sure if it is because I haven't sewn anything in a while or I had cut the pattern out a bit wonky, either way, frustration got the better of me and I decided to bias bind the hem.


My only mistake with this top was to set my iron too hot when pressing the front pleat, which meant I melted the hem edge quite badly, luckily I had cut it bit long so I managed to cut off the worst of it off. I will definitely be using this pattern again as it is so simple and could be reworked in so many different ways, just look at the Flickr page HERE!

Madeline Mini Bloomers
(Stash Buster)
Designed By: Sarai Mitnick
Download FREE Here: Madeline Mini Bloomers

Ingredients

  • 1 yard of Fabric
  • Spool of Matching Thread
  • 2.5 yards 1/4" Ribbon
  • 2.5 yards 1/4" Elastic
  • Safety pin (for threading elastic)

Again this pattern was very straight forward to follow due to it being really well explained and consisting of only 4 pieces.
As with the Sorbetto I did struggle with the hem and ribbon casings on the legs, it just would not turn over neatly as again there seemed to be too much fabric.
Is it just me or have these come out looking a bit like a bat! The boyfriend thinks they look like something Blackadder would wear...without the bows, I kind of agree!
So after a bit of faffing, I decided to just to fold the edge over and rather than making a channel for the ribbon to sit in, I would hem them as best I could and fit the hemmed channel with elastic. As I had already made and opened the button holes in preparation for the casing I decided to hide them with some black lacy ribbon and a button.


This Button and Bow hides my wonky buttonholes
I am quite happy with them, though, to be honest, they are not the most wearable item I have made, they sit very low (don't dare bend over!!), and are quite puffy, but I'm pretty sure the puffiness is due to my attempts to overcome my hemming issues! I will definitely have another go at these, as they would make great summer bed shorts, but next time I will increase the waistband height by a couple of inches!

So two items finished, one wearable and one...not so wearable perhaps, but at least I have used up some of my fabric and finally rid myself of another UFO!


Have a great day!
Wendy x

    14 comments:

    1. They both look fantastic. I really like your mini bloomers- I must have a go at making them!

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      1. Thank you, the mini bloomers are a lot of fun!

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    2. You are a very clever lady, they are both lovely. I especially like the bloomers. xx

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    3. Love it! so utterly cute. I do hope you get more fabric to make up that darling pattern.

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      1. Thank you :) Yes I will definitely have another go at the wrap dress pattern... though I will check the qty of fabric first! :)

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    4. Great makes, the bloomers are brilliant!

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    5. The Sorbetto is great! And I love the bloomers, defo wearable. Looking forward to seeing what else appears from the UFO's...:)

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      1. Thank you:) worryingly there are loads of UFOS sill to go:)

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    6. Oh, I think they're great! Wonderful fabric choice, love the look of the Sorbetto and am completely in love with your bloomers

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    7. Hello my darling! You are just so creative and talented! I also love how you always add a personal touch to all your posts...it makes your blog such a joy to follow! :) I wanted to let you know that I am passing on the Versatile Blogger Award to you!! The stamp and blog post is here: http://walkinginmay.blogspot.com/2012/02/versatile-blogger-award.html
      If you choose to blog about it, then please list 7 facts about yourself and pass it on to other bloggers. Hope you have been well and have a fabulous week my darling!
      May xx
      walkinginmay.blogspot.com

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      1. Thank you Lovely lady I will do a post ASAP XX

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    8. I'm just mad about those bloomers! Well done :)

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