Sew U Home Stretch - raglan sweater

Yes, I'm back with more pink. and with another make I'm really proud of.  This was a lot simpler than the wool skirt though!  This is the Raglan Sweater from the Sew U Home Stretch book. I  bought some beautiful knit fabric from Faberwood with birthday money earlier in the year which was earmarked for this pattern but I wanted to do a trial run first.  On my way to search the local fabric shops for sweatshirt fabric I stopped in one of my local charity shops and found a pink men's medium Reiss sweater with grey ribbed cuffs, waist and neck band. Too big to wear as it was and the grey ribbing looked very tired and worn but the pink fabric was really good quality. At £5.99 it was quite pricey, but then I was in the British Heart Foundation shop AKA the most expensive charity shop in Walthamstow. And really, it's easy to lose perspective when buying second hand - £6 for a jumper isn't much at all is it, especially given the alternative of buying new and adding to consumer waste/landfill, not to mention the working conditions of the garment makers. So I happily handed over £6 and the jumper went straight in the wash when I got home. The grey ribbing didn't look any better after the wash but luckily I had this lovely golden yellow/orange ribbing that I bought from Kitschycoo Fabrics a few months ago (along with some black and some red).

Although this was a relatively quick make I took a bit more time than I usually do with knits and pressede seams as I went along rather than just at the end. I think this made a difference with the bulkier material so I'll be doing this next time I make this sweater. I also used the overlock stitch ony Bernina to finish all the seams. I keep meaning to try the lightning stitch as I've read good things about it, has anyone else used this? I'll need to remember next time. 

Summary -

Pattern: Raglan sweater from Sew U Home Stretch Built by Wendy book, a Christmas present from my husband

Size: small 

Alterations: None

Fabric and notions: Pink sweatshirt from charity shop £6, ribbing from Kitschycoo £5 for 1/3 of a metre (I still have plenty left for toddler projects), thread from stash

Any changes I'd make next time: nope, none at all.

Total cost: £11

Has anyone else used this book? I can't wait to try some of the variations. A few of them look really dated but most of them are pretty classic. There's a plain T-shirt,  a Breton style top, and a hoody that all look great!

This has been worn a few times already and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it during Me Made May if you follow me on Instagram! I hope everyone that's going MMMay this year is having as much fun as I am! 



Third time lucky Plantain

As I realised during Me Made May, I'm a Repeat Pattern Offender, and if I needed proof of RPO benefits then the Plantain tee provides it! The Plantain is a free pattern from Deer & Doe and is a firm favourite among sewing bloggers (there are so many gorgeous versions, as a start I'd check out Elena's versions and Laurence's, posted on the Curvy Sewing Collective).  I don't know much about drafting but this t-shirt just looks so good in every version I've seen that it must be very well drafted.  The instructions are easy to follow and I love the method of inserting the sleeves flat - I'd never tried this before.  It's also an easy pattern to adapt into a dress - see What Katie Sews for a lovely example, or a cardigan - as Dandelion Drift did, I'm seriously going to have to copy that idea!

For my first version I stuck to the pattern and made the long-sleeved version but without the elbow patches.  I used a cheap bright pink jersey I got in Walthamstow, either at Saeeds or from the Man outside Sainsbury's. I cut a size 38 at the bust grading out to a 40 at the waist and 42 at the hips and it fits really well.  The fabric has started to show signs of pilling/bobbling already and I was never that happy with my twin needle on the sleeves and hem, however, saying all that, I wore this loads, tucked-in, over the winter and I'm sure will continue to wear it until it gets so bobbly I need to make another!

First version of my Plantain t-shirt dress in Teal textured jersey.

Moving on quickly to version 2 - my first attempt at a dress version. Once again cheap fabric, from a shop on Walthamstow High Street (can't remember which one).  It turned out ok in terms of fit, and I do like the colour but the fabric just looks cheap to me which puts me off a bit.  I'm sure I'll wear it in the winter with tights but I didn't like the look of it with bare legs so it's been consigned to the back of the wardrobe until autumn rolls around. There is a dress tutorial by Anna on the Deer & Doe blog but I wanted to stick to a t-shirt dress style rather than adding any volume to the skirt.  My solution was to lay an old favourite t-shirt dress from H&M (so bobbly and worn looking it has now been shipped off to the textile recycling bin) under the pattern piece and tracing paper and draw round it, adding length and copying the shape.

But version 3, oh version 3 I love it!!  The fabric is from the Man outside Sainsbury's and it is a gorgeous soft jersey which feels really good quality and was a dream to sew with.  I also had a couple of revelations with this make. First off when talking to a friend about the tunnelling I had been getting with my twin needle, she asked if it was a stretch twin needle, to which I had to reply I have no idea! The twin needles I have belonged to my mum and as she used the machine for her art work I doubt she had a stretch twin needle. So I 'splashed out' and got a stretch twin needle - what a difference! This time, no tunnelling and as a result a much more professional looking hem on the bottom and the sleeves.  My other revelation actually following the instructions properly and top-stitching down the neckline. I'd never done this before, not quite sure why, but it makes such a difference. It lies much flatter, and again looks more professional.  I am so pleased with this version and I'll definitely be making more! I have some nice John Kaldor fabric (from TMOS yet again) which I'm going to use to make a version for winter and I'd love to make another long-sleeved t-shirt and a cardigan for the winter.

The sleeves are perfect for a summer dress

Top-stitched neckline

Flat twin-needle stitching - yay!!