Belcarra top {Sewaholic}

My first Sewaholic pattern, the Belcarra top. It's a really simple top with a raglan sleeves and shaped into the waist. It is a loose top which is nice to pull on and really quick and easy to make. I actually made this months and months ago (oops) to wear tucked into my black work skirt, but this has reminded me to make some more for summer!

A Feeling Genki Kimono

I enjoy making my own clothes so that I wear or style things exactly how I want, but it's also handy to copy something I've seen-and-liked in a shop. Cue trying on a lovely floaty kimono in *Popular British High-Street Shop*,  thinking it was so pretty and then double-taking at the near-£50 price-tag. I thought surely I can make that!

Pinterest throws up so many kimono tutorials- I used my own variation of this one. Then last week I found this market bargain fabric- Liberty cotton jersey! Dreamy in pattern and ease-of-sewing. I wish I had bought all of it.

£6 and cotton- vs a poly-mix £49.99? Winning!

Lady Mary | Deer & Doe 'Airelle'

My first Deer & Doe pattern sewed up- and I enjoyed making this Airelle top. The instructions are clear but quite brief (which I think perhaps earns it the 'intermediate' ranking on the packet), and I found this a quick and simple make. This would have been much better photographed on, but the fit is really nice- comfortable and loose but cinched in with darts front and back.
There are some lovely little details- the gathered cuffs on the sleeve (which the pattern tells you to interface but I didn't as I thought it would be too bulky and I don't miss it) ...

...and the lovely front gathers on the yoke...

A special note for my Downton Abbey fabric (yes, really!) in Lady Mary, hurrah! Yes I am going to make myself a label using the selvedge.... 

        

I really want to make some more Deer & Doe clothes now. The thick pattern paper is a little bit unwieldy, so it will need tracing for future makes, but once I have done that, I will be making lots of Airelles!

Sunshine Top | Dressing Handmade

A record at my first effort at top-designing....I wouldn't say pattern-drafting, as I basically combined two of my top patterns with my own little additions, but it's a design start! I am really pleased with how it came out and I love this fabric.

I treated myself to Tilly's lovely tote bag and aptly, have just spent a lovely weekend away wearing only my own handmade outfits, by accident to be honest, but so exciting nonetheless :)

My design sketching on some old hotel notepaper...this needs some work! ;)

A summery top in Liberty lawn

Not the best photo, but this top was quick to finish and I was eager to throw it on with some skinny jeans for a Bank Holiday Monday jaunt. No photos could do justice to the soft loveliness and gorgeous pattern of my first bit of Liberty-print clothing though! Thanks for the fabric Mum ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Me & Liberty? True love ♥  {and incidentally, this fabric was super-wide and it did not take much to make a top... #couldtotallyjustifyadress..!}

A Modern Art Top for May | Colette Laurel

This fabric was love at first sight. It was also kind of expensive, but it made me cheerful just sewing it and I think it's made a lovely, bright, comfortable top for skinny jeans or tucked into a pencil skirt for work. Why be subtle eh?!

Top in an afternoon

 The problem with leftover fabric from a project is that is just seems to accumulate into a fairly random stash. I had off bits of of sale-bargain stripy jersey left over, so decided to fashion a top from it. On the plus side, being fabric-economical make me cut a size smaller, which ended up fitting much better. Lesson learned. 

After much fussing about cutting, this was actually very fast to sew up and finish on the same day. Relaxing and fast fashion :)

Colette 'Laurel' | 01

My first try at my new Laurel pattern; the top {vs.4} | A cotton print and a striped jersey| I would make the jersey top without the darts next time and in general, need to size down.