Monday 13 February 2017

My Valentine Jeans

Why Valentine? Well this is February and they have a red rose on the back pockets...

 So first off my back side to view the embroidery in all its glory..
There isn't much to say about these jeans except they are so comfortable to wear. The fabric was purchased  during a visit to Goldhawk Road. I found it at the very back in the cellar of a shop which seemed to go down into the bowels of the earth but brought forth this fabulous medium weight stretch denim in a deep purple colour which has come out well in the photos.

Here is a short video [with no sound] to show them in action.


 

I used my usual SFD jeans sloper that I have made many times before and that I know fits well so made in a very quick time.

It did throw up a bit of a question though. When I made my husband's jeans he asked me to copy his favourite Levi's. Now I've always made mine by sewing the outside seams and top stitching before sewing the inside seams but I noticed on his it is the inside seam that has the double top stitching. So which is correct and why?

I personally like the fact that the side seams that go up to the waistband add extra strength to the seams that may have to take stress whereas the inside leg seams don't take as much! I also like the top stitching to show but then I'm probably a bit of a show-off - don't answer that!

 

My next blog will be about my new fleece and I have a video to upload for that too.

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Three tops to reveal

Today I have three tops I've finished in recent weeks but hadn't got round to photographing.

The first is a pale blue slinky feel stretch fabric that was made totally on my serger so very quick and easy. I just wanted to make a top that would work under the Navy Blue Suit I made and this fits the bill. 

On its own I don't think it's quite right as the very pale colour does nothing for me, I much prefer bolder colours or prints but the black beaded necklace helps.











Next up is this lovely strtiped polo necked top. This fabric had been in my stash for some time but had always frustrated me because it was so off grain. This was such a disappointment because it felt like really good quality stretch fabric.

I decided I'd just line up the pattern to the stripes and see what happened. Again this was quick and easy made entirely on my serger except for the hem which was zig-zagged. I told myself that if it didn't work I'd lost nothing as it would have just stayed in my stash otherwise.
 
Actually I'm really happy with it and it has washed well with no outward signs of it being off grain so fingers crossed it stays that way. 

I feel the unusual way I laid out the fabric with the sleeves lines going down and the body across makes this a very different design and this will definitely be in the luggage for Australia.












Lastly for this blog is slightly weird. 

The fabric reminds me of the experiments we did in school with oil paints floating on water and making paper that looked like this by dragging it across the surface. I can't remember what this technique is called but it was fun to do.

Another stretch jersey with a high neck but this one has a small zip opening at the back neck to ensure the collar is snug.

Again this top was made specifically to add interest to the Navy Blue Suit mentioned earlier but it turned out differently to the one I had planned.

This has a raglan design so the gathers at the neck edge show the design feature but the collar didn't turn out to look as good as I'd hoped. I should have taken more notice of the pattern of the fabric for the piece I was cutting out. The pattern of the fabric was so random I didn't give it much thought but seeing the photos I think the dominance of black in the particular piece makes it look a bit odd to me. I think I could have chosen better.

The fabric itself was purchased during a visit to my friend in Portugal last year while we were out shopping in Portimao. In fact she picked it out so I think of her every time I wear it.



The sleeves were supposed to have been gathered into a cuff but I tried it on for length before adding them and decided I quite liked the bell shape as they were, so left them.

Coming soon...
I have some super new Valentine jeans for me and a new fleece with some embroidery to show you.

Just over 5 weeks to go now and the Australia Adventure begins.




Sunny Top from Sew My Style Challenge