Carmella jumpsuit hack!

I'll start by saying this was such a no think hack - no big adjustments, just taping my favourite elements of each pattern together. I swapped the slim legs of the Carmella out in favour of my absolute favourite Butterick B6178 Culottes in view D, simply lining up the grainlines/crotches of both pattern pieces. The B6178s have come in handy for a number of hacks (like this one and this one) mainly because they're so easy to just tack onto different bodices.

All my fave patterns pooled

The sleeves come from the Named Clothing Reeta Shirt Dress - again, another pattern that for me, has many miles. The Reeta usually ends up as a shirt for me, and I don't usually favour the turn up sleeves, but when balanced with the volume of the culotte legs, they just seemed right. For ease, I stuck with the existing sleeve head (they didn't differ massively anyway) and just used the length and instructions from the Reeta to create the turn up.

And just a few little details... The inseam pockets of the Carmella are quite shallow, so I mashed them together with the B6178 pockets for extra depth - I mean, phones are getting bigger these days, baby pockets are of no use to me. I would have quite liked to use the chest pockets from the Reeta too, but previous experience tells me they are unfortunately just too fussy for my full bust, so I stuck with the originals.

This was quite a fabric-intensive and fairly experimental project, so I picked out a bargain mid-weight poly-mix with a bit of stretch - it has a bit of a crepe feel/drape to it - for £4 a metre from Lucky Fashion in Dewsbury. I used 3m in total.

Unbelted, it's a bit of a baggy romper!

The fabric is weightier than my previous Carmella, so it's turned out a bit heavier and looser than the last version, but it definitely has the 'secret pyjama' value to it. In all, it's more casual than I was intending, but still easy and versatile to wear and I'm really please that all my favourite patterns came together successfully!

Regardless of how fancy it turned out, I made it to wear to a fancy work event I had to go to on day 1 of this year's Me Made May, and of course, I stuck to it - I was even hand hemming the trouser legs on the morning. I wore it with trainers all day and dressed it up with posh shoes and a bag for the evening do.

Dressing it up!

The sleeve heads need an edit next time. The Carmella has a slight drop shoulder, which the weight and little bit of stretch in this fabric emphasised more than I would have liked. I ended up unpicking the sleeves and sewing them with a really deep seam allowance across the sleeve head, but obviously it's better to have things right from the start, so I'll be giving the pattern a little tweak before the next version.

And yes! There will of course be a next time as I'm a firm believer in sticking with things once you've found something you like. I'd really like to wear a similar jumpsuit to a friend's wedding this summer, but I think the fabric needs to be ever so slightly lighter/more luxe for the occasion. I'm on the hunt the perfect fabric now and have until August. If anyone has any suitable suggestions, please let me know!

Reeta Shirt in white crepe

Reeta Shirt in leftover suiting fabric from a recent project

Fabric: The white one is made of a leftover crepe/poly mix that's been in my stash for years and the black pinstripe version is a cheap suiting poly/viscose

Original garment made: The white fabric is leftover from a failed attempt at making something for someone else, and the pinstripe is leftover from my absolute fave M7661 trousers (I was given lots extra as it has a few faults to it)!

Leftover fabric amount: Just over 1m in both fabrics (this hack takes about 1m)

Sewing Leftovers make: Named Clothing Reeta Midi Shirt Dress, hacked into a cropped shirt

Leftovers-wise what did I learn?: Skip details to save on fabric - I left out the pockets and turn up on the sleeves. The back yoke can be cut as 2 separate pieces rather than on the fold if you're restricted by the length of your leftovers (I actually did this by accident for one of mine and it turned out fine)! I also learnt the great joy that having matching separates can bring to your life/wardrobe (scroll down for more on that)!

About the make:

White crepe Reeta with corduroy Landers

Back view of the white crepe version

Losing the length was obviously the big fabric saver for these shirts, but simplifying the sleeves also helped. I really dislike the longish turn up sleeves on my Reeta Dress - so much so that I recently cut them off to try and make it more wearable. The turn up is quite bulky when made in anything other than lightweight fabric, so it wouldn't have really worked with my mid-weight leftovers either. I cut the sleeves as long as I could, and hemmed them much shorter after trying on the nearly finished garment. I now know that I prefer the sleeves pretty short, so this should help to minimise waste at the point of cutting for future versions!

Named Clothing Isla Trench Coat

Do you think ankle length denim will catch on?

Approaching this project is not for the faint-hearted. I technically started it in spring, but got no further than sticking the MASSIVE PDF together. As you can see, the finished thing is pretty long, so some of the pieces are huge, and the jacket is made up of more individual pattern pieces than I've ever seen - 24 in total, many of which you have to cut out multiple times in the outer fabric, lining and interfacing. Some of the pieces are overlapped too, so you still have to do some tracing, and I really hate tracing. One positive though, and a bit of myth busting here for some of you who asked: seam allowances are included in the PDF version of the Isla (phew)!

Pinterest inspiration, particularly the middle image!

Supplies!

Inspired by some amazing denim trenches I came across on Pinterest, I bought this mid-weight blue denim (sorry I don't know the exact weight!) from my local haberdashery, Samuel Taylors in Leeds. It's not the cheapest project to embark upon; requiring 3.5m for the outer alone, plus lining fabric (I bought cheap khaki lining to try and even out the expenditure!), over 2m of interfacing and notions. Having seen some great versions online (I love this one by Le fil à la gratte) I knew that it would be well worth the cost.

Flash of khaki lining

Cutting and marking up the pattern pieces took me a day, and then there was prepping the pieces with interfacing, but once I was sewing the whole jacket came together surprisingly fast! The instructions are very clear and methodical. I felt like could approach the make one element at a time, the first being the welt pockets. I've never done a welt pocket before, but they weren't nearly as difficult as I'd imagined. It's crazy to think how much effort went into them for them to sort of blend into the background, but it's the little details that seem to count with this jacket and that definitely appeals to my inner perfectionist.

Welt pocket!

Coming together quickly with the cape

Side view/silhouette

The collar/collar belt was a nice chunk to construct in one go and the details make it look so professional in finish. It's a shame the collar belt and loops are mostly hidden away under the collar itself, but I made sure to get some pictures below to show you all!

Collar belt detail (buttons from Textile Garden)

Under-collar details

I was on a bit of a roll and made just one mistake: sewing the sleeve bands on at the wrong notch, meaning they sat way too close to the sleeve edge. I'd almost finished the jacket before realising and although it didn't look too bad, I had to go in through the lining and correct it or be forever annoyed.

Corrected sleeve bands!

Other than that, the whole sew was smooth, even the lining/bagging out stage, which I had expected to be difficult based on previous bagging out confusions with the Waver Jacket and Yona Coat. Joining the inside of the vent to the lining was probably the hardest bit to sew neatly, but luckily is hidden away on the inside. It's also worth mentioning that I skipped the shoulder pads, which hasn't made much of a difference to the finished jacket. With or without shoulder pads, the style is very much 'power dressing'.

Lining flash!

I found the most beautiful imitation tortoise shell buttons from Textile Garden that work perfectly with the denim, with matching small ones for the collar and sleeves. If I made the Isla in future, I'd consider doing bound button holes for a better finish as the regular ones don't quite cut it, particularly as the rest of the jacket is finished to such a high standard.

I'm absolutely thrilled with the finished jacket, and I'm so glad I stuck with it. If you've stuck with the saga on here/Instagram and read this far, thank you! I've sewn a couple of jackets/coats in the past, and more recently the Linda Wrap Dress which has a lot more technical elements to it, but I'd built this up to be something else entirely. It's actually turned out to be my favourite jacket sewing experience ever, and I credit a lot of that to the fab instructions - thanks Named! Don't be put off by the 5-scissor difficulty rating, just give it a go. When I eventually got started, it took me a little under 2 weeks of evening/weekend sewing to finish.

Back view

Should have smoothed out that squiffy cape!

I don't think I'll be sewing another trench any time soon, but if anyone else wants to, here are some other great trench coat patterns:

Londres Trench Coat and Jacket by Orageuse
Luzerne Trench Coat by Deer and Doe
Tracy Trench Coat by Style Arc
Robson Coat by Sewaholic
Vogue 8884 (great one here by Diane at Dream.Cut.Sew)

Hi mum if you're reading! Thanks for the pictures :)

I'm just getting over a bit of sewing fatigue and then I'll be returning to my backlog of sewing plans. I have a few skirts (including another New Look 6418 in more faux suede I picked up at Sew Brum), a Kyoto Sweater and the Lander Pants in the pipeline. But in the meantime, I'm very much enjoying wearing my finished Isla Trench.

Is anyone else feeling like braving a trench or coat this winter? Which pattern will you be sewing?

Reeya Midi Shirt Dress - Named Clothing

I chose the fabric to make it up in pretty quickly too - this beautiful striped olive green poly-crepe from Minerva Crafts.  I was smug at finding the perfect fabric for only £4.99p/m... until I came to cutting it and realising that it was only 45" wide rather than 60"! This left me almost half a metre short and meant some very creative pattern placement, as well as the struggle to keep my stripes straight! By some miracle, I managed to squeeze the whole thing out of just 3m. Disclaimer: any pattern matching is completely accidental (though my contrast horizontal back yoke was totally intentional).

Minerva Crafts poly-crepe

Reeta was a fairly straightforward sew, arguably easier than the '3 scissor' difficulty level stated - I made it in just a day. I saved myself a few extra steps by skipping the pockets. As much as I like the style of them, the placement, combined with the style of the dress, just wouldn't do any favours for my bust. The only real difficulty I had was with attaching the collar, mainly due to the severe curve at the front - a couple of attempts sorted it though. I was also a little confused over how to hem the dress with the way the facing was attached at the bottom as earlier instructed, so I sort of freestyled it.

Interior waist detail

I was quite surprised that the pattern didn't include a drafted piece for the inside waist casing, though to be honest, my limited fabric wouldn't have stretched to that anyway. As recommended, I used length of ribbon in green to match the dress, which makes for a really nice finish - perhaps something to make an external feature of in future. I threaded my cord through the ribbon channel and finished it with two toggles (leftover from my hardware purchase for my Waver Jacket) for a sort of 'utility' look.

Waist detail

When trying it on, I noticed pulling between the button holes at the waist if the cord wasn't tied as well as toggled, so I've stitched the centre front closed. And moving onto the buttons... I had total shade amnesia over the exact green of the dress when I went button shopping and came home with these little brown-looking ones that although aren't the worst, also aren't the best match. (I also do this regularly with zips too - anyone else?)

Side view

Back view

I really like the finished dress, though I can't help but feel that there is a fine line between frumpy and cool, and it's very much sitting on it - dinner lady chic vibes in this fabric anyone? I love the detail of the dress, particularly the sleeves and the waist cord/casing and choosing such a good quality, drapey fabric gives it that extra special finish - I think it almost looks like it could be hanging in Whistles, though coming in at less than £20, it definitely doesn't have the price tag to match!

A few tweaks to future versions - length and taking the side vents slightly higher - will make hopefully increase my love for Reeta even more. I'm thinking a lighter weight cotton version to add to add to my holiday handmades in the very near future!

Looking thoughtful - thanks Sara for photo-taking!

Did you make a shirt dress for #sewtogetherforsummer? Leave a link to your blog in the comments if so - I'd love to see it! :)

Talvikki meets Nita: my underwhelmed face

The beautiful print up close

Stabilising the shoulders with jersey

On the whole, the finished thing leaves me feeling a bit deflated. I'm not sure that the Talvikki works in such a loud print, or maybe the print doesn't work on me - it's now I remember why I usually steer clear of most prints. (My boyfriend suggested it made me look like a wotsit not long after taking these pictures - not exactly the look I was going for)! The lack of stretch and difference in drape of the fabric means it doesn't sit quite as well as I'd hoped. I've rolled the sleeves up as they look too wide and hollow otherwise, and the dropped shoulders look less smooth and more boxy than they would in a jersey.

Back view

Pinterest perfection

In reality, I think the pairing makes me look a bit bloated and frumpy. Perhaps I'm being overly critical as the skirt isn't so bad at all and definitely a wearable garment, but it's just not quite lived up to my styling expectations (see image below compared to image above)!

Not quite a Pinterest fail, but not my favourite

Although both garments definitely don't go together hand in hand, the Nita is the first tick off my #2017makenine, and the Talvikki marks the final make from my winter sewing list - which I can't quite believe I actually finished! I hate the thought of any make languishing in the back of the wardrobe, particularly ones like these that are perfectly wearable, but I just have a few niggles over. I'm sure the Nita will get the wear it deserves come spring and summer. The denim actually gives it a bit more structure and prevents it flying open when walking, unlike my first version which is flash central without tights! And while I want to love the Talvikki more, I think it might be relegated to a house-only jumper for now (particularly after the wotsits comparison...). Styling suggestions to help me get the most out of the two are very welcome!

At least it was sunny for pictures - thanks Chris!

I'm always a little tentative about posting my 'meh' makes, but I guess it's good for providing a bit of balance. Not everything works out, even the ones that should - in this case, it's probably a combination of lofty ambitions and wrong fabric choices. How do other people feel about sharing the makes that leave them feeling a bit deflated? And what do you do with yours? Do you try to salvage them, pretend they never happened or grin, bear and wear?

Some special makes for someone else...

In other news, most of my personal sewing time has been eaten up by a special project I'm working on for someone else (see above). I'm excited to share it as soon as I can, but also looking forward to getting a bit more making time back for me. I have the loveliest fabric and pattern from Sew Essential queued up, which I'm hoping will give me just the boost I need!