What I’ve Made this Month - Jan 2021
Two tops, three pairs of trousers - all completed in Jan 2021!
New Year, new start; January 2021 seemed to spark the return of my sewing mojo, making five garments, as well as completing a few projects and alterations.
Starting off simply, the first make was two pairs of wide-legged jersey trousers, detailed in my last blog post, and both very useful additions to my wardrobe; I really can’t recommend these highly enough.
Simplicity S8738 made up in a sweater knit from Fabric Godmother
Next, as temperatures dropped, I opted for a simple sweater using Simplicity S8738 and a cosy knit from Fabric Godmother (no longer available). The fabric had been in my stash for over a year and needed to be made up as I am fast running out of room! The pattern includes options for a knit mini dress, tunic or cropped top with either a crew or turtle neck and dropped shoulders. You can also add lacing or ties to sleeves and/or sides but I felt that so much detail was a little superfluous. This was a nice, easy project run up on the overlocker. The only change I made to the pattern was to shorten the tunic length slightly as my fabric yardage was a little short! The fabric was quite bulky and in places was a little difficult to feed through the overlocker, so you just need to watch this, go slowly and use a hump jumper (also known as a bulky seam aid) if necessary. This was a useful make and far, far quicker than knitting a jumper – particularly at my beginner’s speed. Apparently it’s not easy to buy thick sweater knits like this here in the UK, so if you see some I’d recommend that you snap it up quickly.
A mash-up of the Merchant & Mills Eve and Strides trouser patterns and fabric from Minerva
The next project was with a fabric gifted to me by Minerva in exchange for a blog post on their website, which you can read here: www.minerva.com/people/1086544: For this make I combined two patterns – the Merchant & Mills Eve trousers and the Strides from their Workbook. The Eves are becoming a frequent make for me but this time I wanted side pockets and a fly front. By combining the two patterns I achieved exactly what I wanted. The fabric features a black and white check with a very subtle yellow and purple check woven through, which encourages me to venture out of my comfort zone and wear more colourful tops. I love the masculine vibe of these trousers, particularly paired with chunky boots – they are a welcome alternative to jeans and being medium weight, are ideal as spring weather approaches.
New Look 6471 with fabric from Missy Mop Fabrics
My final January make was New Look 6471 – a blouse made in a gorgeous polyester crepe from Missy Mop Fabrics: www.missymopfabrics.co.uk. This is my second time using this pattern and it’s definitely a winner. It features really lovely full raglan sleeves, gathered into a narrow binding at the wrist, and featuring a dart at the shoulder. The body of the blouse and the sleeves are sewn together and gathered before being attached to the narrow neck binding, or wide neck tie. The version I’ve made here fastens with a button and loop at centre back, but on the tie neck version, the button and loop are hidden under the tie in the left front raglan seam. I finished this internally with French seams – I do like the inside of a garment to look beautiful too!
New Look 6471 is quite a simple make but it provides such a lovely shape and such simplicity. I really like the boho vibe achieved from the combination of the blouse shape and the paisley print – it’s perfect styled with a pair of wide leg jeans and it reminds me of the great 70s fashions featured in the BBC drama The Serpent every time I wear it!
What’s on your sewing project list for 2021? Let me know in the comments below!
