T-shirt Work In Progress

I've spent the last two days sewing time tracing another t-shirt pattern, Newlook 6230, and it's at times like this I wish I just cut out the damn tracing paper. I know I'll use this one till it wears out so it's worth it to trace it but it really gets boring after a while.

It's almost ready for me to start cutting the fabric but I'm about to head off to my parents for the weekend and I won't be bringing it with me. Fingers crossed I'll get my Biology work done, though. :-)

My New Toy!

I've mentioned my overlocker once or twice but I haven't actually bragged told you about it yet. It was a complete fluke that I found it, and exactly when I was looking for one.

I had gone to the charity shop to drop off a few books (I'm trying to declutter) and passed by the new 'retro' shop. I hadn't gone in before because I don't buy clothes that much and I find the valuation of second hand clothing confusing. I just wanted a look really.

The other stuff in the shop was a bit boring and it was very dark but sitting on the counter was this wonder, complete with instruction manual:

The thread and ballpoint needles actually cost more than the machine

I don't know how old it is or how the shop came to have it but it was clear after a quick conversation they didn't know what to do with it, even though they'd checked to see if it was working. The guy in the shop admitted as much and called it an overedger. :-)

When I asked the price and he shrugged and pulled £20 out of thin air I practically jumped with joy and asked him to keep an eye on it while I walked to the bank.

Walking half a mile home with it in a big paper carrier bag I almost regretted my decision, but not quite! :-D

My Most Useless Make Yet?

I made a pattern holder/wall hanging doodad!

I'm not quite sure why I did this. My mane trail of thought was that I could easily get stuck doing the same patterns over and over again because tracing them takes so long when I first want to make them. I figured if I made one new one every month then I'd have more and more ready traced patterns when I come to sew something nice and quick.

I made it completely with my overlocker because I couldn't be bothered to change the thread on my sewing machine but it turned out pretty good. There's one slot for each month of the year and at some point I'm going to get a wooden dowel (pole) and sew it into the top so I can hang it one the wall. Pretty good for a 1 evening make with no pattern.

Yay! T-shirts!

I got an overlocker (serger) a couple of days ago and I've been having fun with it, making my first stretch garments. I don't have any ball point needles so I'm going to wait to sew anything with good fabric, and I can't sew any seams on my sewing machine because I need to fix the bobbin tension before I can use the zigzag stitch, but both those things can be easily fixed.

Sorry you can see my bra! I didn't realise how see-trough the fabric was, but at least I found out here and not out in the real world. Also, did you notice my new haircut? I got my boyfriend to cut my hair and when he got it wonky (I shouldn't be surprised) I got the hairdresser to just go with it.

I made both the t-shirts in NewLook 6216, but the sizing got me really confused. According to the size graph I should have sewn a 14/16 but when I looked at garment measurements I got confused. It looked like I could wear an 8 with room to spare.

Turns out cutting the short sleeved one in an 8 was just fine, which is a bit annoying. But even more annoying was the long sleeved version, where the body was just fine but the sleeves where tight. I guess that's where the inflated sizing came from but it just looks horrible, and I think it would have whatever size I cut. I would edit the top to add size 16 sleeves to the size 8 top but it's such a wasteful pattern in terms of fabric I don't think I'll bother.


I will sew up the short sleeved top, probably again and again, and I'm going to try the trousers at least once, but I'll get a sleeved top from somewhere else.

Shopping!

I've been away from my blog for a bit, partly because I started a degree on the 5th of October in Health Sciences and it's taking up loads of my time. I should have expected that, but it feels a lot harder than I was expecting.

My other excuse was the Whitby Goth Weekend. I had more fun than last time but I've decided to skip the one next April so I can save up more money and even make something myself that I can wear. I did buy some pretty things, though.

Firstly, a slightly silly jumper. It's a bit scratchy, but looks really nice to wear over a small top and be both decent, pretty and warm. It looks like it wouldn't be warm enough to go outside in the winter without a coat and that makes 'looking cool' a bit irrelevant, but when spring comes around I'll be happy.

Then, something I specifically went to get. I know it, again, looks a little bit ridiculous, but I have a knee length coat in the same kind of design and I LOVE it! The sort of post-apocalyptic arts and crafts look is something I'm really into at the moment. I can't wait to wear this over a white shirt. (I probably need more white shirts).

Finger-less mittens! Full of fur! Yay!

I got some crafty stuff as well. I got 400g of each of the grey wools that one of the local shops had, and two grey tartans from different places. The one that's all grey (the bottom one in the picture) is possibly a poly-cotton blend in a thinner, trouser weight fabric that I got as a bolt end at the Whitby fabric shop that I really want to make into trousers because I'm seriously running low on pairs that fit.

The other tartan is grey, white and black with little lines of red that I got as surplus at a custom clothing stall. It's looser and softer and would make a great coat, and it's definitely better quality than the other one.

Nest post I should be able to share a finished garment, I just need to hand hem it and add elastic at the waist.