One hundred (and more) ukulele bags

December 22, 2014, 3:02 am

≫ Next: Scarlett et Marguerite Baba Yaga dress

≪ Previous: Avant Garden Fantasia Tova

$

0

0

The very last uke bag has left my sewing machine! I have made well over a hundred quilted ukulele gig bags and appliquéd ukulele tote bags since sewing the very first gig bag for my Flea. I've sold them at music festivals, craft fairsand through shops in the UK. Through Etsy I've shipped many out to happy customers all over the world to countries as far flung as USA, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Scotland, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Japan, New Zealand and even China.

There are just a few remaining appliqué uke bags left for sale (some in my Etsy shop and a few in shops in the UK) but all the uke gig bags have now gone to new homes. 

I have enjoyed making every single one of them, delighted in carefully packaging them up and sending them out, and loved receiving emails and hearing kind feedback from happy customers. 

 

All good things must come to an end and I'm marking the close of the year by saying farewell to my ukulele bag production line. Here's to new exciting sewing adventures in 2015!  

---

Scarlett et Marguerite Baba Yaga dress

December 28, 2014, 1:36 pm

≫ Next: December Ends

≪ Previous: One hundred (and more) ukulele bags

$

0

0

Introducing my first Scarlett et Marguerite Baba Yaga dress! Scarlett et Marguerite is a boutique and fabric store based in Nancy, France, which also designs and sells its own patterns for easy-to-sew clothes. Their aesthetic reminds me of 1970s Clothkits, far-out Gudrun Sjödén and 1980s Camden Market bohemian chic. Theirs is a world of unashamedly colourful homemade clothes in easy-fit shapes, embellished with all manner of brocades, ribbons and pom poms, sewn together with love.

The Baba Yaga is one of their most sewn (and blogged) sewing patterns. I've craved making one myself all year long but put off buying it mainly due to the high cost of postage from France (almost as much as the price of the pattern itself). Eventually, a timely year-end discount code persuaded me to take the plunge and order it online. Once ordered, the pattern was delivered quickly and arrived in a delightful package - a joy to receive! It even included a Scarlett et Marguerite sew-in label to add to the newly created dress. The written instructions are only in French but the illustrated diagrams were clear and when in doubt I used Google Translate to decipher anything I wasn't sure about. 

Extra special fabric was required for this folkloric design and Carolyn Gavin's gorgeous Petite Fleur collection of organic cottons was just the thing. I used three different prints in a navy/red colourway; Swallow Garden for the main dress and sleeve panels; Poppies for the dress border; and Floral Impressions (a navy/white stem print) for the front and back panels. I spent even longer deliberating on which ribbons to use for the centre back trim before settling on a red gingham (for the time being).

Baba Yaga is an easy pattern to sew and rewardingly quick to put together. I love the puff sleeve cuffs which have four darts to give them shape. There's room for personal interpretation here too – embellishment is encouraged! I closed the front neckline on mine to make the front sit flat and added (essential) side pockets. I'm wearing it here with my Gudrun Sjödén Cirkus print leggings and red shoes – a combination as flamboyant as the myth of Baba Yaga herself.

December Ends

December 31, 2014, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Lisette Portfolio Dress: Simplicity 2245 - in floral corduroy

≪ Previous: Scarlett et Marguerite Baba Yaga dress

$

0

0

With the year drawing to a close we took a late afternoon walk on Worthing beach. The landscape to the east was coloured in soft pastel shades of blue with sandy brown footnotes.

The prospect to the west was a palette of grey flecked with silver and gold as the sun descended lower onto the horizon. Tranquil tones and a tonic for the senses as we mark the close of the old year and the dawn of the new.

Lisette Portfolio Dress: Simplicity 2245 - in floral corduroy

January 7, 2015, 3:51 pm

≫ Next: Under The Pier

≪ Previous: December Ends

$

0

0

I've written before about my yearning for a copy of Simplicity's out-of-print Lisette Portfolio dress sewing pattern and tweeted about this again recently having seem a shockingly priced one on eBay. Kerry of Sew Ichigo and Very Kerry Berry got in touch and kindly offered to send me her own used copy of the Portfolio pattern. I am most thankful and touched by her generosity. What better way to start my sewing year?

The Lisette Portfolio is the original version of Liesl + Co's Cappuccino– a dress I've now sewn four times (three of them blogged), so was convinced the design would work for me. There are a few minor differences between the two sewing patterns, the main one being that the Portfolio has a more demure high scoop neckline.

I'd heard that sewing the centre front square panel could be tricky, but I actually found it easier to make than the Cappuccino's V-neck. As before, I cut the dress as a size 10 for the top half, graduating out to a 14 at the hips. It has a centre back seam, so I shaped this a little more so that it wasn't baggy at the waist. I cut the back facing in one piece (instead of adding a back closure) as the dress fits easily over my head. It's a roomy A-line design and is exactly the style I feel most comfortable wearing.

The fabric I used is deliciously soft floral pin cord made by Japanese company Sevenberry (Christmas money well spent at Eternal Maker). The main body of the dress is in Flower Garden print and the yoke and cuffs are in Daisy Floral. The two fabrics clash perfectly to my taste! I love the finished dress – the corduroy is great for these colder days. There will definitely be more Portfolios this year.

Under The Pier

January 14, 2015, 3:21 pm

≫ Next: The Green Surge Baba Yaga Dress

≪ Previous: Lisette Portfolio Dress: Simplicity 2245 - in floral corduroy

$

0

0

A walk at low tide on a bright, cold January day gave excellent views of the tremendous structure under Worthing Pier. Beneath the Pier stands strong legs of steel, rusted in shades of gold and webbed with seaweed.

While visitors take tea and eat cake in the refurbished Southern Pavilion above, clusters of mussels feast on plankton below.

The Green Surge Baba Yaga Dress

January 17, 2015, 11:21 am

≫ Next: Just Desserts Dress: Lisette Portfolio - Simplicity 2245

≪ Previous: Under The Pier

$

0

0

 
In a week when membership of the UK's Green Party overtook that of the Lib Dems and UKIP in what Twitter called #GreenSurge, I was pleased to wear a new greenBaba Yaga dress (hot off my sewing machine) to our first Meet and Make crafting get-together of 2015.

The dress is green both in colour and because it recycles fabrics left over from previous sewing projects. Scarlett et Marguerite's Baba Yaga design lends itself well to stashbusting!

The main dress is cut from Soft Cactus Lasting Leaves cotton (seen earlier in this Poppy Tunic); the cuffs are pieces of vintage Paco Rabanne printed cotton (which I made a dress from a decade or so ago, and more recently used scraps to make monster toys); and the small centre front panel is a tiny piece of Lille Skip Forest Blue (left over from making this dress). It's trimmed with three different types of braid from my overflowing tin of ribbons.

As with my first Baba Yaga, this dress is a joy to wear and I look forward to dreaming up new fabric combinations for future Baba Yagas.

Just Desserts Dress: Lisette Portfolio - Simplicity 2245

January 20, 2015, 3:38 am

≫ Next: Jurassic Fleece: McCall's M6785 Girls' Dress

≪ Previous: The Green Surge Baba Yaga Dress

$

0

0

Trifling with the idea of making another Portfolio dress, I spied Fabric Land's pudding patterned Cake Stand heavy cotton (from their own-brand Hill-Berg range) at £3.99 a metre – it would've been churlish not to buy some to make this dress with.

Novelty print linen-look heavy cottons are a Fabric Land favourite of mine, and while they may be intended for craft use, I find them most suitable for dressmaking. The dress I made from their Berlin Macaroon fabric washes and wears well and still looks as good as the day I made it, as do the twoTicket To Ride dresses. They're a perfect weight to wear layered during the winter and the fabrics feel cool enough for summer too.

The Hill-Berg Cake Stand fabric features images from Mrs Beeton's 1861 Book of Household Managementincluding illustrations of meringues, chocolate cream, blancmange, jelly, trifle, stewed pears and tipsy cake. The fabric is available in three colourways but I liked the blue best.

Illustrated puddings from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861

Fabric Land's Hill-Berg design Cake Stand printed cotton

Sewing a second Portfolio Dress I decided to try the short turn-up sleeve version this time. The instructions state that you should apply fusible interfacing to the sleeve bands, however, in the orange needle corduroy I used this has made them feel a bit too chunky to turn back, so I'm leaving them down. Next time I will skip the interfacing step. The corduroy is another remnant from my stash.

I think the finished dress is splendid, and the fact that it cost me less than £10 in materials to make is the cherry on the cake! 

Jurassic Fleece: McCall's M6785 Girls' Dress

January 26, 2015, 2:32 pm

≫ Next: Year of The Goat lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop

≪ Previous: Just Desserts Dress: Lisette Portfolio - Simplicity 2245

$

0

0

My ten year old's interest in all things Jurassic happily shows no sign of abating, so when I found some polar fleece fabric printed with dinosaur bones in Brighton's Fabric Land, I knew what I had to do.

For this, her second dinosaur dress, I used McCall's M6785 girls' sewing pattern. The pattern has four versions of a simple pullover dress (and leggings) and is designed for stretch or knit fabrics. 

I modified the pattern to suit the fleece, so made the dress with a shorter stand up collar (model C) and added the kangaroo pocket (from B, the hooded version of the dress). 

M6785 is easy to make – just like it says on the packet – and the sizing is a good fit too.

The dinosaur fleece fabric looks fab as a dress and is a lovely snuggly thing to wear – I'm pleased to report that this junior palaeontologist loves it!

---

Year of The Goat lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop

February 5, 2015, 10:10 am

≫ Next: Save Worthing Skyline!

≪ Previous: Jurassic Fleece: McCall's M6785 Girls' Dress

$

0

0

To mark the imminent start of the Year of the Goat I have restocked my Etsy shop with some new Chinese zodiac goat lavender bags. They're made from Mini ModernsStevie printed cotton which was inspired by an oriental postage stamp collection. Mini Moderns produced this wonderful fabric for Clothkits a few years ago and the fabric is now out of print, making these lavender bags very rare indeed! For the backs I used Carolyn Gavin's poppy design organic cotton.

In the Chinese zodiac the sign of the goat (ram or sheep) is thought to symbolise good things and represents creativity and calm. Wishing you these things and more for a Happy Chinese New Year!

To buy or for more info visit the Ivy Arch shop.

Save Worthing Skyline!

February 8, 2015, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Embroidered by Imagination: A Gudrun Sjödén Valentine

≪ Previous: Year of The Goat lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop

$

0

0

Property developer Roffey Homes intend to build a 21 storey high-rise apartment block close to the promenade on Worthing beach. Yesterday I joined the Save our Seafront protest to voice my opposition to these disproportionate plans for a sight previously bequeathed to the town's people for leisure use.

For two hours two dozen locals braved the cold weather to hand out fliers to passers by, collect signatures for the petition, hoist banners and raise awareness for this just cause. Every supportive beep from passing motorists, bus, lorry and van drivers was met with a cheer!

Roffey's proposed skyscraper is an ersatz, unimaginative design that would exceed the height of all buildings in Brighton Road and along the seafront. It would ruin the seafront skyline and herald the destruction of what is historically an elegant seaside resort. Over a thousand people have signed a petition indicating they don't want it to go ahead and I hope that Worthing Council will consider our views and veto Roffey's plans.

I urge all readers of my blog to sign our petition to Save Worthing Seafront. You don't have to be a local resident to sign – you are all potential visitors to Worthing!

For more information visitSave Our Seafront Worthing. Sign the petition here.

Embroidered by Imagination: A Gudrun Sjödén Valentine

February 14, 2015, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Wukulele Love

≪ Previous: Save Worthing Skyline!

$

0

0

Embellished with embroidered and printed roses, Gudrun Sjödén's Spring 2015 collection is influenced by the colourfulness and craftsmanship of the Far East.

My favourite piece from Sjödén's Spring collection is the Li Weicoat. The coat is padded and finely quilted with a stitched scallop pattern around the hem and has exquisitely embroidered roses and leaves on the front. Inside it's lined with Xiang print fabric which looks like a spray of roses in full bloom. The coat is just lightly padded but is surprisingly warm and in the cherry red colour is just the thing to brighten any grey day.

I chose the Sakura button-through kimono dress to wear with it. 'Sakura' means cherry tree and this bright hibiscus pink fabric is printed with sweet cherry blossom flowers.

My final pick was a break from convention as I hardly every wear anything tight around my waist – I chose the kod woven cotton tie belt in mustard as it looked so wonderful on the models in Gudrun Sjödén's catalogue! It wraps around the body and ties a bit like my daughter's karate belt. It feels rather ceremonial to wear and I like the fact that it has no buckles or metal fastenings.

See more of Gudrun Sjödén's exciting Spring Collection 2015 here. 

Wukulele Love

February 15, 2015, 1:37 pm

≫ Next: Building a Living Willow Dome

≪ Previous: Embroidered by Imagination: A Gudrun Sjödén Valentine

$

0

0

Wukulele jam traditionally takes a break in January, so today saw us meeting up for the first time in 2015. With every seat in Worthing Rowing Club taken, latecomers were huddled into the bar area – it was standing room only but no one was turned away!

We belted out tunes from Wukulele Songbook 16 – highlights being What's Up, Don't Stop Me Now and Morningtown Ride. After a break for refreshments and chatter we reassembled to storm through the Bad Lyrics of Love Songbook. Both songbooks were diligently put together by Harriet who keeps the jam going with boundless enthusiasm. Happily under her direction Wukulele jam continues to go from strength to strength.

As we played the sun streamed in through through the Rowing Club's windows, and we were in such good spirits that we all trooped outside after the jam to play a few more numbers to a bemused crowd of onlookers on the seafront. This went down so well that we plan to make it a regular occurrence in fine weather!

Wukulele takes place upstairs at Worthing Rowing Club, usually on the third Sunday of the month. Check the Facebook page for more details. You can download all our Wukulele Songbooks for free from www.wukulele.com.

Building a Living Willow Dome

February 23, 2015, 12:30 am

≫ Next: One Zentangle A Day – eventually

≪ Previous: Wukulele Love

$

0

0

The first few days of February's half term holiday were spent helping to build a living willow dome in Worthing's Beach House Park. This family-friendly project was part of BugCycle an initiative run by community arts organisation Creative Waves in partnership with Worthing Wildlife. BugCycle aims to bring wildlife, planting, crafts and colour to an underused space in this beautiful park.

Willow crafting team extraordinaire Ganesh and Elaine of Creative Willowled the construction of the dome and taught us how to make bird feeders, stars and living willow pencils. Children were encouraged to decorate the area with chalked drawings and crafts. Happily the BugCycle team provided hot drinks and biscuits which nicely took the edge off the winter chill as our kids were having too much fun to want to leave!  

Beach House Park is a place I walk through every day – with tree lined paths and herbaceous borders it's a haven for birds and wildlife as well as the site for Nancy Price's Pigeon War Memorial. For years the park was famously home to the Bowls England National Championships, an event that packed out the park every summer. Controversially this flagship tournament moved to Leamington Spa last year amid local mutterings that Worthing Council should have done more to hold onto what had been an acclaimed and lucrative event for our town for over 40 years. The loss of the tournament (and revenue) has already signalled changes in the park with the vast, colourful flower beds that ran through the central avenue being dug out and replaced by large green tubs of low maintenance shrubs. While these are still pretty they're not a patch on the spectacular floral displays that greeted visitors to the park during the Bowls Championship years.

BugCycle hopes to breathe life into neglected areas of Beach House Park again and I'm sure will help attract many new visitors – human as well as insect! I look forward to seeing the project grow, especially the living willow dome.

One Zentangle A Day – eventually

March 3, 2015, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Quilted Spring Coat: Burda 7072

≪ Previous: Building a Living Willow Dome

$

0

0

Worthing based holistic therapist and mindfulness tutor Joanne Turner introduced me to the practice of zen doodling some 18 months ago. The idea of a meditative practice that incorporates doodling and creative drawing appealed, so I attended one of her delightful zen doodle workshops and resolved to try to doodle more.

Inspired by Jo's course I bought Beckah Krahula'sOne Zentangle A Day book to help me build up a repertoire of patterns to explore in my doodling. Zentangle has a methodical, deliberate approach – it's zen doodling but with exacting rules! Zentangles are abstract patterns always drawn within 3.5 inch squares (or 'tiles') and are meant to be constructed by following a specific sequence of steps.

Each 'tangle' pattern in the book has clear step-by-step instructions showing you how to create it, and the book instructs you to copy out each step in a sketchbook so that by the end of the 6 week course you will have a visual dictionary of your own drawn tangle patterns to refer to. Most days of the course cover 2 or 3 new tangle patterns and after completing these the idea is to create an abstract 'tile' comprising the new patterns with some of your favourite previous ones.

For the first two weeks I diligently followed the book day after day, then life intervened with changes in routine and my Zentangle regime was neglected. I'd return to the book picking up where I left off on short camping trips during the school holidays only to ignore it again upon returning home... until I eventually guiltily abandoned the project altogether.

However, last month I signed up for Lisa Congdon's online Sketchbook Explorations class at Creativebug which motivated me to revisit the One Zentangle A Daybook too. Congdon's colourful course has given me renewed purpose in doodling and the abandoned Zentangle sketchbook has come into its own as reference for mark making. I finally completed the One Zentangle A Day book in tandem with working through Parts 1 and 2 of Sketchbook Explorations and have found that both these courses have given me the confidence to explore drawing and design again. I'm continuing to draw in my Zentangle notebook and am adding stylised line drawings to make into my own abstracted patterns.

I'm now working through Part 3 of Sketchbook Explorations and will blog the results when I've completed all 4 parts of the course (you can see progress so far on my Instagram feed). Stay tuned here for more zentangle, doodling and sketchbook explorations!

Quilted Spring Coat: Burda 7072

March 10, 2015, 1:30 am

≫ Next: Bloomsbury Wiksten Tova Dress

≪ Previous: One Zentangle A Day – eventually

$

0

0

Four weeks in the making, my first homemade quilted coat is finished in time for spring! I'd been meaning to get around to making a quilted coat ever since I fell in love with the process of quilting that first ukulele gig bag. However, aware that it would be a bigger endeavour than a simple dress make, I put the project on the back burner. Then, visiting Eclectic Maker's January sale spied three bolt ends of Laura Gunn's Garden Wall fabric collection and knew work on the quilted coat must begin.

Laura Gunn's Garden Wall collection: Garden Carpet, Floral Trivet and Gypsy Vine prints

I had in mind using a simple kimono sleeve sewing pattern but came across Burda Style 7072 and the collarless design looked like it would be ideal. There was enough Laura Gunn burgundy Floral Trivet print to make the main coat, I used the white backed Garden Carpet print to line the main body and a small piece of olive Gypsy Vine fabric to line and trim the sleeves.

Pattern pieces cut out (I added an extra 1cm to the outer coat seams for quilting shrinkage), I prepared to zone out into the zen like state achieved by sewing repetitive straight quilting lines.

Burda 7072 was easy enough to make by following the sewing pattern diagrams and I ignored Burda's written instructions until it came to sewing the fiddly pointed triangular under-arm seams. These were tricky and quite difficult to perfect in thick newly quilted fabric (though I have to say they weren't much easier to sew in fine cotton lining fabric). There are eight of these triangular seams to sew altogether (including the lining) so if you're thinking of making this pattern, beware!

   Once the headache of sewing those seams was over, the rest of the coat was joyously easy to make. I even enjoyed bagging out the lining. I finished off the sleeve edges with homemade bias trim and used large metal poppers for fasteners.

In the finished coat – with all its quilted lines – the complicated sleeve construction is barely visible, though has made it a beautifully shaped coat. On balance I'm glad I chose Burda 7072 for this project as it makes an elegant garment and if I can steel myself for sewing more triangular seams, I may even make another... one day.

---

Bloomsbury Wiksten Tova Dress

March 13, 2015, 6:00 am

≫ Next: Liberty Lytton Tova Dress

≪ Previous: Quilted Spring Coat: Burda 7072

$

0

0

After the sewing saga that was my quilted spring coat, a fast fashion sewing fix was necessary. This Wiksten Tova took a few hours to make and seemed the ideal way to use some of the discounted Liberty Bloomsbury Gardens material I bought at Brighton's Ditto Fabrics recently. The fabric appears to be 'seconds' as there is a printing smudge along the selvedge and a little bit of spotting on parts of the reverse of the print, though the front looks pristine, showing a clear and bright rendition of Duncan Grant's Lytton design. The cotton is fantastic Liberty quality and hardly needed ironing after a pre-wash.

Having made Tova dresses twice before I didn't even need to check the instructions and the whole thing came together with speed. I made a few modifications; changed the neckline to a scoop neck which I finished with floral bias binding, lengthened the sleeves by 5cms and added large patch pockets.

The yoke, pockets and sleeve trim are cut from a piece of Makower fabric called Kensington Floral. This I bought from Worthing's Sewing Machine Shop on Brighton Road. Happily the shop is under new management so I'm giving it a plug here as I wish the new owners well!

My Bloomsbury Tova was a hit on Instagram before I'd even finished sewing it and I've already cut out a second which I hope to finish in time to wear on Mother's Day this weekend.

Liberty Lytton Tova Dress

March 25, 2015, 1:00 am

≫ Next: Beach House Park Bug Hotel

≪ Previous: Bloomsbury Wiksten Tova Dress

$

0

0

It took longer for me to get round to blogging this second Bloomsbury Tova than it did to sew it, and it's already had several wears and a wash! The main dress material is a magenta and teal version of Liberty's Bloomsbury Gardens Lytton fabric. Lytton is an archive print created for Liberty in 1933 by Bloomsbury group painter Duncan Grant.

This Tova dress is identical in cut and is made with the same modifications as my previous one with a closed front neckline and added patch pockets. The contrast fabric is also Lytton, in pale aqua blue. The fabrics were all bought from Ditto in Brighton's Kensington Gardens.

Wearing Duncan Grant's prints reminds me of the beautiful gardens at Charleston – the Sussex country home he shared with Vanessa Bell, and meeting place for writers, artists and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury Group. With timely coincidence, Charleston house and garden reopens to the public for the season today, 25th March. 

Beach House Park Bug Hotel

March 30, 2015, 1:19 pm

≫ Next: Brighton Souvenir Tova Dress

≪ Previous: Liberty Lytton Tova Dress

$

0

0

Yesterday we helped build a bug hotel in Worthing's Beach House Park as part of the BugCycle project run by new community organisation Worthing Wildlife in partnership with established community arts group Creative Waves and Sussex Wildlife Trust. BugCycle aims to promote wildlife and encourage biodiversity through creating new habitats for wildlife in this much loved Worthing park.

On a drizzly Sunday afternoon we joined a group of hardy locals of all ages to build the first Beach House Bug Hotel. A bug hotel (wildlife stack or mini-beast mansion) is a man-made shelter for insects made from recycled materials which mimics natural habitats by creating lots of small spaces, nooks and crevices of different sizes for insects to nest in. 

We used old pallets, bricks, rotting bark, tufts of moss, dead leaves, stones, broken pottery, branches with holes drilled in and hollow bamboo canes to create an ideal environment for insects. Our bug hotel will attract a wide variety of invertebrates including; solitary bees, woodlice, woodlice spiders, earwigs, ladybirds, beetle larvae, funnel web spiders and centipedes.

   On walking home through the park later that day my daughter spotted a bee leaving the hotel. It's heartening to discover it's inhabited already!

In other news: the first buds have appeared on the BugCyclewillow dome we helped build last month. What a joy to see growth and new life in this corner of the park.

Brighton Souvenir Tova Dress

April 14, 2015, 2:30 pm

≫ Next: Quilted Square Coat: Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing

≪ Previous: Beach House Park Bug Hotel

$

0

0

Though we didn't go away during the school Easter holidays, exciting day trips and action packed lovely long days have resulted in my accumulating something of a blogging backlog. Like the recent lost two weeks ofThe Archers during the Ambridge floods, I'm not sure if I'll ever properly catch up, so instead will attempt to blog the things I most want a record of, starting with this – my latest Wiksten Tova dress in lime Brighton Pavilion fabric.

The Brighton Pavilion print is by Inprint at Makower UK and has been in my stash since last summer. It features drawn illustrations of Brighton's landmark buildings including the Royal Pavilion – John Nash's extraordinary oriental fantasy palace, built for King George IV in 1786. 

I bought two metres of the lime green version of this material from Ditto Fabrics knowing full well I'd made enough summer dresses for one season, but had to snap it up while it was there as whenever they get a new roll of this design, it sells out fast.

The yoke is made from Hemingway Designs Knotted Up print in brick, another piece from my stash which was left over from making bags. The two fabrics make a loud colour combo, just right for the sunniest days. This Tova is pretty much the same as the previous two, but I added in-seam pockets this time and finished the sleeve with a simple turn up hem.

This makes a hat trick of Wiksten Tovas for me and I think I've now got Tova manufacturing out of my system. For the time being at least...

Quilted Square Coat: Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing

April 22, 2015, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Fledgling Dress: Lisette Portfolio – Simplicity 2245

≪ Previous: Brighton Souvenir Tova Dress

$

0

0

Keen to continue on my quilted coat making odyssey, this is a quilted version of the Square Coat from Yoshiko Tsukiori's Japanese sewing book Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing. I made a green felt version of this design last year. The Square Coat is minimal sewing at its best, easy to cut out and very quick to make up. For my second attempt at this pattern I added 5cms to the centre front opening so that it would overlap to fasten, and cut out large patch pockets to better suit the wide quilted lines.

I had two fabrics in mind for this coat, a bright turquoise African Wax print fabric gleaned from eBay and a cheap but lovely teal cotton printed with Marimekko-like black flowers from Fabricland's Hill-Berg range. I couldn't decide which to use for the outside but settled on quilting the plainer teal material and using the bold print for the lining.

Quilting by night...

I cut out the lining to exactly match the coat pattern (the coat has no facings), sewed up outer and lining separately then bagged out the lining for fast, neat results. I used two large metal poppers as fastenings.

I think the finished coat also looks good worn inside out!