Tag: burberry

Butterick 5526- One pattern, three versions

Published on by ellegeemakes21 Comments

There’s nothing like a sewing contest to inspire you to explore the long forgotten bins in your fabric stash! That’s where I found these cottons. They were perfect for my entry into Pattern Review’s ‘One Pattern, Many Ways’ contest. As I result, my stash is considerably smaller, and let me tell you, it feels great!

For my entry, I chose to make three versions of Butterick 5526, a button down shirt with variations. It’s a tried and true pattern for me (see it here).

In the past, making three frocks with button closures in four weeks would have driven me to drink. Why? Because I hate to sew buttons on by hand. Please, just shoot me instead.

Then, during a unplanned visit to Modern Domestic (Bernina and Fabric heaven, here in Portland), I discovered the Bernina button attachment (#18), a nifty gaget that does it for you in about five seconds (I am not exaggerating here). I begged Santa for it, and he delivered. Seriously, that attachment was a game changer. Bring on those buttons!

My shirt dress version was inspired by a Burberry shirt dress with a big bold plaid.

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No, I could not find that fabric anywhere, so I settled for this (Mill End Store).

img_0001To make my shirt into a dress, I just added seven inches to the length. Because the dress is very unstructured, I will wear it with a belt made from leftover pleather. I also added sleeve tabs so that I can roll up the sleeves when the weather is warm.

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Version two is a lacy top that I wanted to look a bit ‘boho’.

img_9921To make the top look less tailored and more relaxed, I eliminated the collar and cuffs, and added lace sleeves and trim. To add the lace to the bottom of the shirt, I cropped it at the waist, then added a swath of left over lace to the bottom, hemmed with a machine stitch.

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The fabric is embroidered linen (such a rare find around here), and it is so soft and comfortable to wear. I’ll likely pair this shirt this winter with a long cardi-vest. The linen was very fussy, and I was glad I had a serger to finish the frayed edges of this fabric. My only complaint about this version of the shirt is the pocket placement. It’s a bit high for me?

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My ‘kite’ version is just a straight version of view C. Nothing too challenging here, except for the linear pattern of the kites. They made the fabric layout surprisingly difficult, but they are worth it. Of course,  I LOVE this fabric. So many shades of  BLUE, and it was a joy to work with. There’s nothing like a crisp, cool cotton to make your sewing machine sing.

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So, that’s my quota of button down shirts for the next year. Because I’ve been a good girl and sewn three projects from my fabric stash, don’t you think I deserve to go fabric shopping? So far, I’m satisfied with my new stash elimination policy – – I must sew two projects from my stash for every new fabric purchase. I’m determined to make a dent in it!

I hope you’ll pop on over to Pattern Review to see all of the great makes in the contest. It’s so fun to see how you can take one pattern and make it something new. Do you have a favorite sewing pattern that you use over and over again?

Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Sew the look: Patchwork Cape

Published on by ellegeemakes23 Comments

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Hi all – If you follow sewing blogs, you’ve probably heard that February is UFO month, unfinished objects, as in projects that have languished on your sewing table and need to be completed. True confessions. I have PLENTY of those. This cape is a perfect example, a stash busting project I started a year ago, but couldn’t seem to finish.

I was inspired to make this cape by the Burberry capes I saw on the fall runways.

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I loved the lovely color blocked blanket look, and decided by doing a bit of patch work I could get something similar.

The pattern I used is Vogue 9038, an easy cape you can sew in an evening.

I used the pattern pieces as a template as I began to piece together bits of wool I had in my stash. Although the pattern offers a rounded version and a squared off version, I chose the squared off version so that I could block solid pieces of wool together without having to deal with curves! I used five colors, about 1 yard of red, 1/2 yard of turquoise, 1 yard of black, 1/3 a yard of camel, 1/3 yard of brown. I made the smallest size of View A as I am only 5’4″.

I patch-worked two versions of the cape so that it would be double faced and reversible.

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Side two.

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I laid the pieces of fabric on my sewing table and just cut rectangles and squares, sewing them together with 5/8″ seams until I had the shape of the cape filled in. This took about two hours per side, as I stopped frequently to decide what color to use next. I didn’t use a template..I just cut and sewed. There wasn’t any method to my madness other than I knew I wanted to have one side predominately red, and the other predominantly black.

It was an easy fun project, perfect for a day of binge watching. The sewing is all straight sewing, no curves, collars etc. So mindless and fun! After sewing my two capes together to make one, I finished the edges with a overlock stitch, using heavy thread. On one side, I sewed two leather toggles (not sure if that’s really what you call those things) so that if it was a windy day, my cape would stay securely fastened. Sometimes though, I’ll just throw it over my shoulder and go.

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I don’t know why I waited so long to finish this. Sometimes it’s the simplest projects that  seem to stump me. I dithered about how to finish the edges, then I procrastinated on sewing on the leather toggles (with see-through thread). But I’m glad it’s finished now, because it’s so wearable. It’s so easy to throw on for a quick trip to the store, or for an evening out with friends.

What projects are you finishing this February? Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!