Making a blanket

In the final days before lockdown I went to Hobbycraft and bought wool to knit a blanket for my daughter for when she went to university.

Afghan January square pattern

I went for a patchwork blanket style with 10 different patterns all to be knitted in 3 different colour wools, pink, purple and grey. The patterns were Eyelet Hearts, Peas and Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Big Bamboo and Horseshoe Cable from Annies Catalog on Knit and Crochet Now Blanket then a variety of other free internet square patterns that I can’t trace now, but one was diamonds, one chevrons, on an interlocking bar pattern and one that I have saved as ‘January afghan square’. The final one had a heart shape knitted into it and I designed that pattern. I adapted all the squares to be the same 42 stitch size and on some I added a garter stitch border.

Eyelet Hearts block

At first I progressed quickly, but as lockdowns loosened and other projects took over – a cross stitch for a new niece, and I rediscovered my love of sewing, progress slowed. My daughter went to university in September 2020, but I had only knitted about 10 squares by then!

Horseshoe cable pattern

2021 and 2022 came round and I neglected the project, mostly having a burst of knitting on holidays. Eventually in July 2023 all 30 squares were completed and I could start to look at layout.

I hate sewing up so progress on joining the squares and finishing them so progress was slow.

Finally in October 2023, all the squares were sewn together. I didn’t properly block all the squares, which may have been a mistake, but I did stretch the blanket out to a rectangle shape with weights which worked quite well.

I then had to figure out how to finish the blanket. I decided to give it a fleece backing and I bought grey cuddle fleece from Dalston Mills fabrics. The project then sat in my sewing room as I couldn’t really figure out quite how to attach the fleece to the knitting, or how to sew the corners of the fleece.

Eventually in February 2024 I bit the bullet, watched an online video about mitred corners and went for it. I sewed a hem on the fleece and then used blanket stitch to stitch the wool squares to the fleece. I read a great hack online to mark on your finger or thumb (depending on your sewing style) a marker to keep your blanket stitches evenly spaced. It worked a treat!

So the blanket is finished and thankfully my daughter likes it. She is still at university, so I haven’t broken my lockdown promise!

Sewing Swimwear!

In 2023 I had booked a very special holiday to Dubrovnik to celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary. Inspired by the Sewing Bee swimwear week I decided to try making some swimwear.

I usually go for basic swimwear so I thought if I was going to make it myself I would aim for something a bit more special. I loved the cut out style of New Look 6734. The Minerva core Snakeskin active wear fabric added a touch of extra sophistication. The hardest thing to find was the lining fabric, but I eventually found some and clear swimwear elastic on ebay.

I was a bit nervous about sewing swimwear never having made any lingerie or activewear before so I started by making a bikini using a pattern I drafted based on an old ready to wear bikini.

I used the tutorials for making swim
wear from Sew Over It London and they really helped to build my confidence.

The snakeskin fabric was really easy to sew with. I used Seraflock Stretch Sewing Thread and stretch needles in my machine. The lining I had was very stretchy and that was a bit harder to manage.

The first bikini top I made was too small, but I re-drafted, and the 2nd version was much better.

Having read the instructions for the swimming costume I did wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew, but the instructions did work if you followed them properly and kept on top of left and right and right and wrong side of the fabric! I only had to unpick the bottom part once…

Unfortunately, my holiday to Dubrovnik got cancelled at the last minute when the air traffic control chaos happened in August. My bikini and swimming costume were consigned to a drawer, but in January I was lucky enough to go on a cruise and I wore both. I’m not really confident to show a picture of me in a bikini in public, but you can see me in the jacuzzi wearing it and I also swam in it with no problems! I loved the look of the swimming costume on me, but I’m not sure I’d be confident to swim in it as it is a bit low on one side of the top.

The whole experience was a great learning experience and I am looking forward to making some more swimwear.

Upcycling a Cleo denim dress

I’ve been collecting old denim for a while and always planned to make something out of it, so when our WI November challenge was to make something upcycled I decided to finally get round to making something.

The collection of old and ripped denim

While I was sorting through the denim I discovered a panel skirt which was 3/4 finished. It turned out my daughter had started this project, but it had was too big for her so she had given up. I finished it off so got a bonus make along the way. I managed to salvage two back pockets from one of the old pairs of jeans to add to the skirt as pockets. It is a bit big so I also salvaged some belt loops so I can wear a belt to keep it up!

The bonus skirt I discovered part made in the bag

I decided to make a pinafore dress for the challenge and used the Cleo pattern from Tilly and the Buttons. The pattern was easy to follow and made up really easily. I didn’t have any big enough pieces of denim to match all the way through, so I decided to colour block the dress in navy and black denim.

The pattern and trying to find big enough pieces of denim.

I used a contrast cotton fabric for the facings, which was left over from a previous project. I also salvaged pockets from a different pair of jeans. I had originally planned to add the front pocket, but in the end it just didn’t look right in either navy or black so I left it off.

Sewing up the pattern

I’d never added dungaree fittings to a project before, but they were very easy to use. It’s always fun to need a hammer as part of your sewing equipment!

I was really pleased with how the dress turned out and I’ve worn it quite a bit. I didn’t win the WI challenge, but I did get lots of nice comments. Have you ever completed an upcycling challenge?

MeMadeMay patterns

A few people have asked about the patterns for some of the things I wore during MeMadeMay insta challenge (find me @ruth_stitches_and_sews) after I posted the video on my social media.  The list below is in the order of the video, but I’ve skipped over the repeats.  I’m not sure how much use this will be though as only a few of the patterns are current!

Musical skirt – This is a short version of View 5 from a vintage New Look pattern 6030. Musical fabric was from Abakhan and had been in my stash for years. Ths black was an old shirt!

Cherry top – a free pattern from Love Sewing magazine #015 this is the Jersey top. Cherry fabric had been in my stash for a while and was from an Abakhan sale.

Wrap dress – New Look 6301 view A. Fabric is scuba from Minerva Craft.

Straight mini-skirt – very, very simple copy from a shop bought skirt.  Basically a tube with elastic at the top.  Fabric is dead stock from Amothreads.

Knitted cardigan – It was knitted a long time ago, and I can’t find the pattern!

Brown sparkly skirt – I think this is View 1 from the vintage New Look pattern 6030.  I hacked the waistband to be the long tie in the contrast fabric.  Fabric was from Abakhan many moons ago.

Black and white mini skirt – This was me trying out an online tutorial for a simple elasticated waist skirt.  I can’t find the one I used, but there are loads of free instructions online.  Fabric was from my stash and originally came from Abakhan sale.

Rose skirt – View 5 on a vintage New Look pattern 6030 with velvet ribbon added along some of the seams. Fabric from thw same Abakhan sale a long time ago.

Circle skirt – from the original Great British Sewing Bee Book.  The patterns are online https://www.hardiegrant.com/uk/quadrille/sewing-bee but the instructions are only in the book.  Fabric was from my stash so probably from the Abakhan sale!

Lemon dress – New Look 6347 view A. Fabric is dead stock from Amothreads.

Pink skirt – A longer version of the elasticated waist skirt from the online tutorial.  I added pockets to this one. I think the fabric was from Minerva Craft.  

Petrol blue jersey skirt – I picked up a piece of tubular jersey in the Abakhan sale years ago.  I just hemmed it and added an elastic waist and the patch pockets. 

Flowery cullottes – Pattern was from Sewing Magazine tutorial for a skirt with a visible elastic waistband.  I merged it with a pyjama pattern to get the shorts part.  The fabric must have come from Abakhan.

Watercolour flower dress – New Look  N6597 view B. The fabric is from Amothreads.

Twisted Polka dot top – Simplicity K2181 View A. Fabric is from Pound Fabrics.

Green star dress – Vintage New Look 6601.  This was free with a sewing mag about 10 years ago and is no longer available.  A shame as it’s a great pattern I’ve made a couple of times.  Another fabric from Abakhan.

Bee dress – Tea dress from the original Great British Sewing Bee Book.  The patterns are online https://www.hardiegrant.com/uk/quadrille/sewing-bee but the instructions are only in the book.  Fabric from The Little Fabric Shop.

Shirred top – Basic shirred top following a tutorial in Sew Magazine April 2022. Fabric from Amothreads.

Black and white jersey skirt – Anther basic skirt, similar to the tubular jersey skirt, but with in seam pockets.  Not as full as I would like as I hadn’t bought enough material! Fabric from Abakhan.

Kingfisher top – Free pattern with Love Sewing magazine #015 this is the Cross Over Back blouse. Fabric from The Little Fabric Shop.

Pink flower shell top – New Look K6483 View A I think! Fabric is a remnant from Abakhan.

Knitted jumper – Rico Essentials Cotton dk 156. Wool and pattern from Hobbycraft.

Black and red shell top – New Look K6483 View A I think! Fabric is the same as the circle skirt, probably from Abakhan.

Making the bee dress – Part 2 the real dress!

As you may have read in my last blog https://ruthmakesthings.wordpress.com/2022/04/29/making-the-bee-dress-part-1-the-toile/ I had been planning this dress for a long time – nearly 2 years in all!

The ‘bee’ fabric was purchased in 2020 from The Little Fabric Shop which has a lovely selection of unusual fabrics for dressmaking, crafts and quilting. I also purchased the buttons for the shoulder detail of the dress from a great little Etsy shop Suzanne Cotton Shop so everything was ready, but after making the toile, described in part 1 of this blog, I got scared, and didn’t want to ruin the bee fabric!

I spent a lot of time reading about full bust adjustments and eventually decided to add 3 inches across the bust and to add darts to the dress. There are lots of similar instructions on the web for making full bust adjustments, and they are all essentially the same, I can’t actually remember which one I used! It’s a bit fiddly, but not too difficult.

With my new pattern pieces I decided I would start and I took my scissors to the fabric. The bee fabric worked up like a dream and I don’t think I made any major mistakes with this make. I had found with the toile that the zip wasn’t really needed, so I skipped it for this make. I added pockets, and again made a fabric belt to match the dress. I got the hole spacing better this time on the belt and also added a loop to hold the end.

I really pleased with how this dress turned out, and I’ve already worn it a couple of times. I bought some bee charms and made a matching necklace and earrings.

I have a lovely pair of yellow shoes from Joe Browns which work really well with this dress. The only problem is everyone notices the shoes and not the dress!

My lovely yellow high heels!

Me Made May days 3 & 4

Day 3

For day 3 I wore a dress I made earlier this year as I wanted a more cold weather dress for work . It was one of my more ambitious makes and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. The fabric and the New Look pattern were from Minerva Crafts and I posted on their site about making it https://www.minerva.com/posts/1125269

The scuba fabric was really easy to work with and the pattern was easy to follow. I’m still working on getting a good fit and this was too wide across the back so I had to add a couple of darts. I think if I made it again I would make a size smaller.

I still love this dress and will wear lots!

I also made the necklace from metal clay – my new obsession!

Day 4

Day 4 features 2 me made garments!

The t-shirt was made many moons ago from a Burda pattern that was really good to follow. I made a 2nd version in black, but the jersey wasn’t as good quality and it was nowhere near as good. It definitely taught me to buy good quality jersey!

The skirt was a very simple make, made by tracing round a shop bought skirt. I love the fabric which is stretchy. It is deadstock bought from Amo

Amo Threads . My only regret is I didn’t add pockets as I thought it would be too short for pockets. I’ve watched some tutorials so I have a plan for pockets in skirts like this. I’m actively considering a remake!

Me Made May – blog 2

2nd May is a Bank Holiday in the UK. I’d planned a day of sewing and making so I wanted something comfortable. I’d honestly forgotten about this top! I made it in the 2020 pandemic from a free magazine pattern. The fabric had been in my stash for ages. It’s a bit big and the fabric is pretty rubbish quality, but it serves the purpose for a day like today and the cherries are really cheerful and fun.

#MeMadeMay Blog 1

Welcome to the first post of Me Made May! I’ve never done the Me Made May Challenge before, but this year I have pledged to try to wear something made by me every other day, although I’m going to try to do more days if I can.

You can find out more about the challenge, what it is and what it isn’t on the So Zo What do You Know blog

My first Me Made thing is the skirt in this picture. Looking back through my blog I found a pic of the musical note fabric in a post from 2013 when I bought it in the Abakhan sale. It sat in my stash until May 2020 when the lockdown gave me time to turn it into a skirt that I had been planning for a long time! The black fabric was recycled from one of my son’s shirts. In the end this wasn’t the best plan as it meant I couldn’t make the skirt as long as I’d hoped.

The pattern is a vintage New Look pattern that originally belonged to my mum. I’ve made the panelled skirt from view 5 a few times as it gives so many fabric possibilities. I’d always thought the music note fabric was a bit much on it’s own and would look a bit costumey, so I thought pairing it with plain fabric would make it more wearable.

I’ve never been 100% sure about the skirt. I still find it difficult to wear. It’s a bit thin for winter, but I feel a bit exposed without thick tights as it is quite short. I’ve paired it today with a shop bought black vest and white shirt. I’m still not completely convinced. I may try it a couple more ways this May to see if I can love it, or it may have to go back into the remnant stash!

Making the bee dress – Part 1, the toile

During the first UK wide lockdown in June 2020 I bought quite a lot of fabric, some for my daughter as she wanted to make oven gloves for when she went to uni (yes really!) and mainly to make masks, but among it was some gorgeous grey cotton fabric with bees and flowers on it. I wanted to make a nice dress I could make for work, when I finally went back. I looked through my pattern stash and in the first British Sewing Bee book there was a pattern for a tea dress that I liked the look of.

I’ve alway had issues with fit around the bust for dresses and tops, so I decided to make a (hopefully wearable) toile first.

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  Fabric haul, the grey fabric is at the back

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The patterns in the Sewing Bee book are downloadable, so the first task was to chop and stick the pattern together – not much fun for full length dress pieces!

I didn’t get round to making the toile until 2021. I chose a pink and white polka dot fabric for the toile, but when it arrived it was very thin. I still made up the pattern in a size 16 which looked right for my measurements. The dress was fairly easy to make up. The facings fitted nicely and the sleeves fitted were easy to set in. I struggled quite a bit with the invisible zip, but that was mainly as I didn’t have the right foot for my sewing machine – I bought an invisible zipper foot later and it is a complete game changer! I also found I don’t know left from right as I managed to put the zip on the wrong side of the dress.

The only hack I made was adding pockets (why don’t patterns have pockets??)

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  First pic of the dress, without the belt

The dress is shown in the book with a shop bought belt, but I decided to make a belt out of fabric. I followed the excellent instructions from Professor Pincushion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shx7f5mE_zw The instructions are really straightforward to follow I bought a punch tool from Prym, which really helped, once I’d figured out how to use it (again, thank you YouTube). There was a huge sense of achievement at making a belt with a buckle and everything!

Close up of the finished belt

It has pockets!

As you can see from the pictures, the fit across the bust of the dress was terrible. I did wear the dress once or twice, but it was uncomfortable, and the fabric was far too thin. I liked the overall style of the dress though and I really wanted to make the dress in the bee fabric, so I started to look for solutions and realised I needed to make a full bust adjustment, but this seemed very scary so I put it off. To be continued….

Back with a new name!

I’ve not used this blog for 8 years! I’ve done bits of sewing in that time, but it’s not really been high on my agenda, but with the need for facemasks in 2020 I dug out my sewing machine and I’ve started to refind my passion! I’ve renamed the blog Ruth Stitches and Sews and removed the posts about my jewellery making (you can still find me on Etsy www.glitterarti.co.uk). I’ve also been trying to overcome my fear of sewing dresses as I can never get a good fit!

I’ll add blogs about the different things over time, but here’s a little gallery of things I’ve made in the last two years.