Tag Archives: colette-sewalong

Hawthorn Sew-Along: The plans

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Oh my… when the going gets tough (or busy, more accurately) the blog most definitely does not get going. But it’s almost time for the summer holidays! (Which in my world is known as the “weeks of hellish thesis writing and translating a book”, but for now I’m pretending it is actually a holiday.)

cp1026-11-hawthorn-large-3cbf9b7afb1ade19213150fee5ee1ae3Anyway! I’ve decided to give myself a kick in the pants, buy the latest Colette Pattern (Hawthorn) and participate in their sew-along. The pattern is gorgeous, but to be honest the magnificent selection of prizes gave me the final push! Tomorrow I’m going stash shopping to see if I have anything that is suitable and enough, or if I have to make a trip to the market next Saturday.

I’m probably going to make the blouse version first,and then a dress version with a pencil skirt. I have fabric lying around for at least 5 blouses and I need more separates!

I have managed to finish some pieces over the past weeks, so hopefully the weather will clear up a bit and I’ll be able to get some good pictures soon!

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Sew Colette: Meringue Muslin

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Meringue Muslin frontThis weekend I managed to sew up part of my first Meringue skirt. I wasn’t too sure about the fabric at first, but to my surprise I am really liking the look of it so far. It’s a fairly heavy fabric, so it should hold the scallops nicely.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the fit. I’m quite happy with the overall fit, although I took a bit of a gamble by cutting a straight size 2 while my hips are actually a 6. The only adjustment I made to the pattern before even cutting the fabric is a swayback adjustment of 1cm, because I had to take out that length on my sloper at first too. To be sure I put my perfectly fitted skirt sloper on top of the pattern, and it promised to work out quite well. I am going to simply finish this one without any adjustments – I will get plenty of wear out of it anyway, but for the next version I will make the following changes:

Meringue Muslin side

  • Take out 2cm total at the waist. (0.5 cm on each of the darts).
  • Add a little bit of room between my waist and my hips. It has a tendency to pucker around my belly a bit because the skirt is a little tight there and  wants to creep up.
  • Have a good look at the darts. As you can see in this side view They don’t really lie nicely at the points. I don’t know if it’s a problem with the darts, the fabric, my stitching or my pressing, but I hope to remedy it on a next version.
  • Not fit related, but I’m planning to make pockets and a waistband on the next version as well. Any interest in a tutorial on adding pockets to a basic skirt?

Speaking of tutorials, stay tuned for a tutorial on adding a lining to the Meringue skirt. I have taken practically all the pictures, so I hope to find some time to write it up before I leave for Paris on Thursday!

New Year’s Resolutions?

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Over the past few months I’ve been ridiculously busy with school (which means hardly any sewing) and suffering from hand/arm injuries (which means hardly any knitting), so I don’t even have that much to show for the time I’ve been gone.

But, it’s a new year and it’s time for a sew-along:

I just bought both the Colette Sewing Handbook and the Burdastyle Sewing handbook, and I can’t wait to start sewing from them. Hopefully I will have time to sew more than 1 garment a month, but this should be the least that I can do. I’ve got fabric set aside for a Meringue already, and at the end of the month I’m off to Paris, which should be the perfect place to find the fabrics for the other projects.