Jun 2023 – My Stash Reduction Quest

You wait ages for a blog, then two come along in the same month! This hack ended up with an ironic label and a mend before it was even finished.

I’ve worn this shirt a few times on holiday and it’s really comfortable. The large gingham was relatively easy to cut out once I had thought through the placement, resulting in a pleasing amount of symmetry to satisfy my attention to detail!

My original Reeta dress was a labour of love, but the fabric did not wash well at all. The buttons also pulled holes in the fabric, so it became unwearable. I salvaged the buttons and bias binding that I used as the waistband casing, then consigned the dress to the Closet Core Pouf innards….RIP.

When I cut this shirt out, I also cut a new dress in fabric that will hopefully last longer. I originally started batch sewing both the shirt and dress, but the shirt raced ahead as I wanted to take it on holiday!

Shirt hack

Viscose linen is peppered through my wardrobe, but until now, I’ve only had plain fabric in this substrate. When I saw this beautiful gingham from Guthrie Ghani, I snapped up a few metres of it with the idea of making “some kind of summer shirt”.

I had a few ideas, including the short-sleeved Melilot or hacking a tie-waist onto a pattern. After some pondering, I decided to attempt to hack the Reeta dress into a shirt. I have to admit that it’s one of my better ideas! There are some great patterns out there that have a similar look, but as I already had the Reeta, I decided to use what was in my library.

The waistline is helpfully marked on the Reeta pattern, so I drew a line perpendicular to the grain line a few inches below this point. Then I held the pattern piece up against myself to check the line was “about cropped length”, with a bit extra for hemming.

The mend

Now for the careless bit! When I was clipping the collar curve, I accidentally caught some of the yoke – the air was blue. Amongst this minor incident, there was some luck. The hole was in the inner yoke, and the piece was still accessible to allow me to put fusible interfacing on the back. Given the placement, and that it was away from a seam, I decided to mend rather than re-cut, unpick, re-sew etc. The result of the mend is that it isn’t visible when I’m wearing it.

At the more thoughtful end of the sewing process, I remembered to stitch the label onto the inner yoke early on. I often make a note in instruction booklets saying “sew label on now” to remind me if I make again. This “slowly does it” label ended up being quite ironic because what started as a leisurely sew turned into a race against time before holiday.

Also luckily (or skilfully!) all of the intersections lined up with the cuffs, sleeves and armpits. It doesn’t matter how meticulous I am, carefully aligning pieces, I’m still always proud when they match up.

This hack is definitely one I will consider again. It’s very easy to wear and is quite loose, so perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having. Thanks for reading and happy hacking :o)

Hello! It’s been a while since I blogged. I have been crafting, but getting photographs has been tricky. Me Made May helped me to identifyhttps://yorkiemousehouse.home.blog/2022/04/12/theyre-two-different-hobbies/ things that I would like to sew to fill a few wardrobe gaps. I also made some more clothes for our youngest Nibling because last summer’s don’t fit any more.

Today, I’m writing about three dresses that I’ve made from one pattern. The Tilly and the Buttons Lyra pattern is such a comfortable dress that can be dressed up or down. The two sleeve options make it an all-year-round winner for me!

Wearable Toile

I made a polka dot crepe wearable toile back in February 2022, and wore it so much during autumn and winter. I like to wear a pattern a few times before making another version in case there are any fitting improvements I can make.

I made a size 5 for my first version, but the style of the dress means the bodice is quite generous. This dress is certainly wearable, but feels big on the shoulders and almost has a dropped shoulder look.

Before making another version, I sized down to a 4 in the shoulders and bust, which gives a better fit for my body.

Despite wearing this dress a LOT, I don’t have any decent pictures, so here’s a terrible mirror picture of it, with some nice close-ups of the belt loop and buttons.

Watermelon inspired

Whilst watching The Big Bang Theory for the 100th time in January 2023, a loose-fitting watermelon shirt worn by Penny caught my eye. I was so taken with it that I looked online and took a screenshot to save as inspiration.

That very weekend, Rainbow Fabrics announced a drop that included an almost perfect match to the fabric! Believing that fate was on my side, I treated myself to 3m.

I wanted to maximise the fabric, so my idea morphed into a shirt-style dress with a similar feel to Penny’s shirt. Whilst not a classic shirt dress, the Lyra felt like a great match.

Having recently fell in love with the Davenport sleeves (more on that one day, hopefully), I adapted the Lyra sleeve to include a little ruffle at the end. I also had the perfect buttons from Pigeon Wishes to match.

I love my watermelon version and feel great when wearing thick tights and boots in the winter. The watermelons give a pop of colour and warmth to the black base.

A long time coming…

My final Lyra is the one I actually planned first! This Chicacheetah fabric collaboration between Guthrie Ghani and Rachel Parker is fast becoming a cult classic in the sewing world. Currently, there isn’t any viscose available, but there is some French Terry in three colour ways.

I knew I wanted a Lyra in this fabric, and thought the bright blue lent itself to a summer dress. I cut the sleeves to a “generous” elbow length because I didn’t want the t-shirt length in the pattern. I also made some cuffs by eye-balling the width of the sleeve and desired depth.

I ended up shortening the sleeves by quite a bit more, because they were actually bracelet length. Just when I think I know how short my limbs are, I realise they’re 4 inches shorter again(!).

This fabric is a dream to wear, so light and floaty. It’s opaque, so I don’t need to wear a slip underneath either. In short, perfect summer dress/fabric combo.

Thanks for reading :o)

Month: Jun 2023

Reeta Shirt Hack