By Hand London Zeena dress in upcycled Marimekko flowers

I planned to make this dress when I was in Ukraine, but somehow I lost the traced skirt piece and that put it on the back burner.  There are always many fun dress patterns to try out...

Finally I decided it was time.  I used a Marimekko sheet that I found at the Goodwill in Seattle. 
This dress is not lined, uses a facing, and has pleats to create the structure.  I didn't shorten it because it's meant to be very short for BHL - I just used about a 2 inch hem to shorten it somewhat.  I used size 6/10 which is my general size in BHL. 

I found nothing difficult in the tracing, cutting process.  I knew ahead of time that I would hate the facing, but I also hate making bias tape.  Unfortunately I should know better.  I really hate facings. 

I didn't do a lot of careful details with this because it was pretty primarily a muslin to see what I thought, although I did pay attention to the flowers not to have them in inappropriate places, or repeating oddly.  My Mum thinks it's cute but I don't like it at all.  The waist bothers me.  I really need to do an adjustment to the back to remove the extra fabric.  The pleats don't please me.  The fit is acceptable even without a swayback adjustment, but the style feels too cute.

As for the bad photos, my Mum needed cataract surgery and couldn't focus so I reckon they were still impressively good : )  (She's had it now and is doing great.)

Luckily I have enough left in this sheet to make something else, like a nice Willow tank! 

Muse Jenna Cardi in merino sweater knit

When this first came out I was interested.  Cardigans are a big part of my wardrobe and I wasn't sure if I would ever achieve knitting one myself, or be dependent on Anthropologie forever for cool quirky knitted items.  So a pattern for sewing a cardigan, I immediately thought of sewing up some sweater knits, and also right away had a lot of modifications in mind.

Which was why I thought over this pattern for a very long time.  It seemed like a slippery slope of a pattern: make one, assess, then make 4 more with various modifications.  This is indeed exactly what is going to happen, but I managed to make that first one right before moving to Nepal, so the mods will have to wait a bit.

The fabric is heavy merino wool sweater knit from The Fabric Store, which I also used for one in my endless supply of undercover hoods (see here).  This would also have benefited from a double layer of fabric, both to give it more body and to make it thicker and cozier.

I very sadly don't know what size I chose.  But it was consistent with the size chart so I would say don't expect to be surprised if you follow the size chart.  The surprise is the sleeves, they were very very long and I lopped off a decent bit and they are still longish and a bit loose.  I would consider tapering them more in the future.

It took me a million years to get the button holes done, which was a terrible terrible experience.  I recommend topstitching that seam allowance down on the far side of the button placket, so that it's out of the way of buttonholes.  I could also have interfaced the placket, but didn't.  On loose fabrics, consider that!

This first cardi is as I expected.  There are many things I plan to tweak for my Magical Perfect Cardi to be.  I'll make another version in something stable, to update these pattern changes like the sleeves.  I will eventually raise the front neck by a solid 3" because I like my cardigans to have full front coverage.  I would lengthen it above the wide hem band by 2" and then add pockets!  And eventually I plan to also add a hood.  And try the other version with the cool little shoulder gathers...

Overall I do like this first version and I am pretty pleased I found a use for these glass buttons.  I am looking forward to that slippery slope of pattern modifications which I also expect to be a fantastic opportunity for some upcycling.  My op-shop-addicted self starts literally drooling at the idea of all the different bits that I could mix and match to make more of these...

Fun with knickers + UFO completion potpourri

I started my sweatshop in Seattle with some knickers that I had cut out in Arizona erm just about 10 months ago.  4 pairs - Watsons and the free pattern from So Zo.  I did different bindings on them as I am still seeking the perfect binding.  So far all the picot elastic I've gotten on etsy has shredded in the wash.  And the Watson gives me terrible panty lines which I know and have accepted.

So far: the blue ones with folded tape actually are great, and the red ones with the thin FOE that I couldn't fold over are tighter than the others, and already falling apart, as this FOE from Etsy was only about 1/2" wide and so I have only zigzagged it onto the outside of the knicker - and the stitches are already coming loose due to how much my Mum's Necchi hates knits and skips stitches.  The other two, with picot elastic, are fine. I suspect the grey and the blue are the So Zo pants, and that the green and red are the Watsons, but I'm not entirely sure.

I finished a Grainline Scout which is upcycled from an old dress:

My final thought on Scouts is that the only one I have ever really liked is the double-gauze.  So I think I'm going to stick with that from now on.  The fit of a size  4--2 seems to be good with no other changes. 

I decided once and for all that this Ondee does need to be an Ondee and not an Ondee-skater.

And then I moved on to some new knicker patterns: the Acacia - 2 sizes from one tshirt! (XS and S - I was between sizes, and I think the S fits better.) Yesss upcycling!  I like the butt coverage of this pattern, and I liked the option to use 3/8" elastic.  However I also think that using picot bra elastic gives the nicest finish when you don't have a serger.  And the samples made by Megan are way cuter than using old tshirts and inspires me to actually buy fabric specifically to make knickers with - one day. 

And the Kitschy Coo Barrie bottoms, size 2, which pattern I had high hopes for as it uses normal bindings that might hold up better in the wash.  First one is the lower waisted cut from an upcycled navy rayon tshirt - very soft but a pain to sew.  This has worn well and is actually my favourite of the batch.  Second one is my mum's old blue tshirt circa 1980 and the higher waist - doesn't have much stretch, in fact, those ended up too small to even pull on.  I do like the rayon, the fit is good, they sit totally below the butt so while there are panty lines they are at least not so obvious, and the soft waistband is great.  Must make these in more nice soft stretchy fabric.

I was also very pleased by how many knickers I could get from one tshirt!  This is an upcycling win!  Although I think my Anima lounge pants are totally the winner on best upcycled use of tshirts - enough that I might do them again but focus on colourblocking them so they actually look good too.