Christmas/New Year sewing

I love the easy days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Perfect for sewing! And this year my dear friend M joined me.

What’s better than a sewing day on Boxing Day? A sewing day on Boxing Day with a sewing friend! The catering by He who Cooks was pretty good too.

This Christmas/New Year sewing was all about Felicity. I’m working on a mini wardrobe in black and ivory and the first two garments were shorts and a shirt.

Sailor shorts

These are Burdastyle 06/2014 #122 in a size 40 and made up in a stretch cotton with about 25% stretch lengthwise and at right angles to the stripes. I cut them out so that the stretch went around the body. They are stretchy enough that a double needle hem was the best choice. So a knit in the form of a woven. What’s not to love?

I faced the waistband and upper fronts with a black poly cotton from the stash, and interfaced the poly cotton to give it some body.

I also made the conscious decision to not change my overlocker thread from white. Yes really. It matches the pinstripes. Ahem.

My reasoning for different facing fabric was that the stripes are ridged and might be uncomfortable against the skin. Also, all that stretch needed to be brought under some control.

I cut the waistband on the non stretchy direction to help with this too. Also I like the change in stripe direction!

Aren’t those buttons darling? They were from the stash, I had exactly the number I needed and they seemed the perfect buttons for sailor front shorts. It was meant to be.

I didn’t read the instructions well enough so the underlayer at the front was cut the same length as the upper layer. This was a bit of an issue at the bottom of the zip (there’s a zip under the button front) but I managed to get both the upper and under layer back together with some snipping.

This mistake did have the advantage of making pseudo pockets – I caught the underlayer into the hem and this meant everything was enclosed apart from the buttoned top and a tiny bit through the inner thigh. I think they’ll function as pockets ok. So all’s well that ends well.

Kalle shirt

I love Closet Case Patterns Kalle shirt pattern. And I love the Liberty lawn fabric I used for this version, even if it does have the odd name of Kevin.

It’s based on the celestial ceiling art in the hallway of a grand house in Scotland. The fabric has been in the stash for a year or two.

Gemini! Felicity’s star sign.

This Kalle shirt was made the same as all the other ones: I lengthened the crop top version by 10 cm but retained the faced hem.

The buttons for this one came from the stash too. I’m pretty certain their first life was on one of He who Cooks’s shirts.

I have enough shirt buttons in the stash to last more than a lifetime, yet I still cut them off worn out shirts. Someone will inherit a healthy button stash! I did and I love having buttons that I played with as a kid from my mum’s and nana’s button jar.

And what do these garments look like on Felicity?

Very cute.

Pseudo pockets in action.

Stealth sailor version (untucked)

Happy New Year!