I haven't updated in ages so... just an explanation!
I got my a level results the other day. I got A*A*A + an A* for the extended project. I'm not happy about that A, but I've made my offer. I'm especially happy about being awarded full marks for my extended project because I worked SO. HARD. on it. I wrote it on whether prostitution should be legalised, and I actually started with the belief that it should be. That changed when I actually did some research, and I'm so happy I did. It has completely changed my perspective on the issue. JUST SAYING. I wish I could post my discussion on here for you to read but... I can't quite bring myself to re-read it haha
So anyway, that means I made my offer to study Law at my first choice university - Durham (Van Mildert)! I'm so happy! So happy! I've spent the past couple of weeks filling in all my forms (I still have one left), reading as much as I can and generally trying to get my shit together. Because my parents are leaving the country (well, my dad has already left as of two days ago) and my boyfriend and other Sussex students will be taking over the house, we have to move out. Oh, and I randomly went to Cardiff for a couple of days.
My sewing machine is still out, and I will bring it with me to uni, so the tutorials will continue. I will do the second button-down tutorial today or tomorrow! Anyway, just thought I would post an explanation / life update.
Bye!
x
Goodness gracious me
13.8.11
What you need...
About 3m of medium - heavy weight fabric and 3m of lining fabric (depends on how long you want it to be), about .5m (maybe more) of another fabric for the collar if you want, about 1m of interfacing, sewing machine, pins, tape measure, seam ripper if you have one.
What you must do...
1. Cut out your pieces
1. Cut out your pieces
When I say 'cut x 2', you must also cut x 2 of your lining fabric. The length of the diagrams is not the length I think the actual pieces should be! I have not measured the length as it is completely up to you and makes no difference to how the coat is put together. It might help to draw these pieces on paper beforehand (art paper / baking paper / butcher paper, whatever). This would enable you to get a better idea of the size of the pieces without cutting into your fabric first, just in case you make a mistake. If not, it doesn't matter, just be a little more careful, and remember that it's better to make things too big than too small.
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When cutting your main fabric, include the shaded area. When cutting your lining fabric, stop at the yellow line (add a couple of cm for a seam allowance). Also, with seam allowance, cut two of the shaded part only out of both your main fabric and interfacing.
A:
From your shoulder to the bottom of the armhole. Don't make this too small! Mine was about 30cm
B:
Plus seam allowance, from the collar to your shoulder. You could make this longer, depends on what you like. Mine was about 13cm
C:
This depends on how wide you want your lapel to be. The whole piece should be wider if you want a double-breasted coat, 23cm
d = 14cm (top to bottom)
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Cut one on the fold. For your lining fabric, the fold should be at the yellow line - the main fabric will have a pleat at the back but the lining will not!
A:
Same length as the (B) above!
B:
This is the neck. Mine was about 11.5cm.
C:
About the same as (A) above.
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A:
56cm
B:
9cm
It's really up to you, though, and also depends on how wide you cut your front piece. Keeping in mind the fact that it will look smaller when all sewn together, pin this piece to your front piece to see how it looks! If it's too big, trim it. If it's too small, you can always trim down the front pieces a little (:
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A:
must match the armholes, but it's an easy fix if you get it slightly off (as you will see when you sew the sleeves on)! Mine was about 30cm. Once again, how long / wide / tapered the sleeves are is totally up to you.
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2. Sew
Right sides together, sew the shoulders of the back piece (A above) to the shoulders of each front piece (B) above. Take the little piece you cut from the shaded bit above (front diagram) and sew it to the front piece you cut from the lining fabric, attaching interfacing to it in the process. You should end up with a lining piece to match the front piece made from the main fabric. Sew the front + back lining together in the same way.
Along the yellow line in the diagram for the back, right sides together, sew one line of stitching. Use the longest possible stitch on your sewing machine for this (or hand sew), but go over the top inch or so with a normal stitch. You do not need to do this step to the lining fabric.
It's a little hard to see on my fabric, but opening up the back piece to lie flat, iron the fabric you've sewn. As you iron, keep making sure that the stitching is in the middle. About an inch from the top, stitch over the fold a couple of times to reinforce the area where the pleat will end.
Unpick the long stitches! You should now have a pretty pleat.
Right sides together, sew the side edges of each sleeve piece together, and again with the lining fabric.
Turn the 'body' of the coat inside out, so the right sides of both the front and back pieces are together. Matching up the bottom of the armhole on both back and front pieces, sew from that point to the bottom of the coat, and repeat on the other side. Where both pieces have just been joined together, at the bottom of the armhole on one side, match this up with the seam (the bottom) on one sleeve. As always, right sides together! Sew from this point all around the sleeve / armhole, so they are joined together. Repeat with the other armhole / sleeve and do the same with the lining fabric. You should now have two coat-like things, one in your main fabric and one in your lining fabric.
Eeeeeven though I've divided one side of my collar into two, you don't need to do that. I mean, you can if you want but it's not necessary. It means you can secure your interfacing down the center if you want. Anyway, sew your interfacing to one of your collar pieces, either into the two underside pieces when you join them together, or basted around the edges.
Right sides together, sew both collar pieces together along the widest edge, then down the sides. Cut the corners and turn inside out.
Right side of the main fabric against the underside of the collar, sew together at the neck edge. Make sure the collar is perfectly in the middle.
Do the same with the lining fabric so the collar is now anchored between both sides. Unfortunately I didn't photograph this part but... turn the coat inside out so the wrong sides of the main fabric and lining are facing outwards, and sew along both outer edges (i.e. the edge where both sides of the front meet when you put the coat on... THE FRONT SIDE EDGES. I'm terrible at explaining things). Clip the corners and turn the coat the right way round again. Iron (+ maybe stitch over the top if you feel you need to)! The only exposed edges now should be the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the coat.
Get a hold of the sleeves and match up the seams on both the lining and main fabric. With the right sides together, sew the lining and main fabric together at the end of the sleeve. When you turn it the right way again, you should have something like the above picture!
Your lining should be shorter than your main fabric so... trim it a bit if necessary. All you really need to do now is hem both the lining and main fabric. You could, if you wanted, turn the whole thing inside out and actually sew the lining to the main fabric at the bottom (leaving a little gap to turn it out the right way again and hand sew closed), but I'm not going to do that.
So... now the outfit I wore with it hoho. As you can see, I actually ended up adding pockets. I did this the day afterwards and didn't photograph it - I'm sorry!
Bye everyone!
4.8.11
... is at the bottom of the page after the jump. Unlike on livejournal, apparently you can't have text after the cut but still outside it! Hmm! Well here are some pictures of my non-scary week. I wish I took my camera around with me more but I just don't! Sheem.
We went to Cheddar Gorge! It was amazing. I took loads of photos but unfortunately most of them are a bit blurry as the light was so low in the caves.
We also went to Wells, where they filmed Hot Fuzz. It was so pretty and there was a choir practicing in the cathedral when we went inside which, as I'm sure most of you will agree, is always a bit of a tear-inducing experience. We also went into this really nice cafe called Coffee#1. They do hot apple and cinnamon, one of my favourite drinks and actually not too easy to find (AMT coffee does it too, randomly) as well as things like hot chocolate with coconut. We were impressed. But anyway...
These were taken on one of our many walks. No pictures of me because we were going to the woods where there are zillions of stinging nettles and I didn't bring any trousers with me hoho. I looked bizarre in the end. Actually, I didn't bring loads of things with me e.g. shoes without holes, tampons, toothbrush, contact lens solution... I had to got to Asda and buy all these things the day after I arrived because I was so disorganised haha.
Plus here are two old photos from Andy's mother's wedding that I decided to upload because they have some stylish ladies in them. Makes me excited for winter so I can get out my fur coat. And speaking of coats...
I made this coat today! It was a bit of an experiment but as it succeeded, I'll make a tutorial for it when I get some new fabric (: but maybe with a couple of modifications. I feel like making loads of them haha. I might end up with a wardrobe full of coats. Anyway, here is my scary story. Sorry it's so poorly written!
I love these blended ice things. They have pretty much the same at Starbucks except they don't have peach flavour which is... the best flavour. Tasty tasty tasty
We went to Cheddar Gorge! It was amazing. I took loads of photos but unfortunately most of them are a bit blurry as the light was so low in the caves.
These were taken on one of our many walks. No pictures of me because we were going to the woods where there are zillions of stinging nettles and I didn't bring any trousers with me hoho. I looked bizarre in the end. Actually, I didn't bring loads of things with me e.g. shoes without holes, tampons, toothbrush, contact lens solution... I had to got to Asda and buy all these things the day after I arrived because I was so disorganised haha.
31.7.11
I got back from Andy's yesterday so expect a big rambling post soon. Something really really scary happened to me, actually. I feel like I've told everyone I know so it's time to tell the internet too hoho. I will write about it in my next post, but for now I have a new (kind of) tutorial.
This is awfully similar to my reconstructing dress tutorial except... well, it's using a shirt rather than a dress? haha. WELL, I realised today I have a ridiculously large amount of button-downs. I don't even know how it happened, they've just accumulated over time. I was thinking about ways I could make use of them today, and decided it would be fun to do a little series of button-down related tutorials. Just simple ways to change them up a bit. This is my first, simply because I felt like making a dress this morning.
What you need...
One large shirt, a sewing machine, scissors, tape measure, seam ripper if you have one.
What you must do...
Cut this kind of shape out of your shirt. The top should be as wide as you want the shoulders to be (plus seam allowance) and the sides of the front must go down the center of your boobs, a little narrower at the bottom. The piece should end at your waistline (or where ever you want the waist line to be). The back should go down just outside of your shoulder blades.
With the rest of the shirt, cut two of these pieces to join the front and back of the piece you cut above. You might need to make the (front) line more curved if you have a bigger bust. Remember, it's better to make it too big than too small so you can change it later if necessary.Try to waste as little fabric as possible! Use a tape measure to check that it will be big enough sewn together. Right sides together, sew the (front) to the side of the front piece, and then the (back) to the back piece, and again on the other side.
Try it on to check it fits, trim the bottom / armholes if necessary. Zig-zag over everything if you so desire. Hem the armholes, trim all the loose threads etc. etc. Looking at this picture, I probably should have added another button SO if it is a little gaping around the boob-area, fix this now.
Take the bottom of the shirt (easier to keep it buttoned for now) and trim to make sure both sides are the same length. Use your seam ripper / scissors to open up the sleeves for extra fabric to add to your skirt, making sure everything is the same length. Right sides together, sew all the skirt pieces together to make a loop. Hem everything. Gather your skirt at the top (I do this by sewing the longest stitch along the top and pulling one thread, but you can also get gathering foots for your sewing machine), making sure it is the same length gathered as the bottom of the bodice. Unbutton the skirt and bodice. Right sides together, matching up the edges, sew your skirt to the bodice.
You should now be finished!
Hat: vintage
Collar: vintage
Coat: vintage
Dress (underneath) H&M
Shoes: New Look
Collar: vintage
Coat: vintage
Dress (underneath) H&M
Shoes: New Look
Bye!
16.7.11
What you need...
About 3m of fabric, sewing machine, elastic (possibly a needle and thread and a hook)
What you must do...
Cut two of the first (front), one of the second (back). The orange dotted line is where you might use a princess seam (refer to my 'wrap bodice' tutorial) but I don't think it's a big deal. Up to you. I've just done one because I have limited fabric and it's a way to... make the bigger piece without it looking odd haha. I've also done the same on the back but... JUST IGNORE IT. The length of both should be from your shoulders to the waistline, plus an inch or so seam allowance. Keep in mind that for the first piece, you will cross these over so make sure you make it a few wider. You can use an existing shirt for reference if you are unsure. I have not made this to be fitted - you should be able to pull this over your head so do make it wide enough!
For your skirt, either get one long piece of fabric or lots of panels that together make up one long piece of fabric, whatever you can do. I've heard some say the skirt should be 3x you waist measurement for adequate poof, but obviously that depends on the weight and type of your fabric / your own personal taste. Sew them together so you end up with a big loop / circle, and hem.
Either pleat or gather your skirt so the skirt opening and the bottom of the bodice are the same size. This should still be quite a bit wider than your waist.
Unfortunately I didn't photograph this part very well but it's easy to understand. Get your elastic and cut a length that is snug around your waist but not so tight you can't fit it over your hips. Sew the ends of the elastic together. Match the sewn part of the elastic to a seam on the skirt and sew it in place. When you pull the elastic taut, take hold of the loop on the opposite side to that you've just sewn down, and sew that side to the other side of the skirt (as in the diagram). Now, from one of the sewn points, sew over the elastic on to the already gathered edge of the skirt, pulling the elastic taut. As you sew, pull the elastic so it is the same length as the skirt. If you pull it too much or not enough, it will end up looking uneven. Keep doing this until the whole skirt is attached to the elastic and it fits you around the waist.
WHY are my diagrams always weird? Cut two of both shapes. This left shape is the collar, so it must match up with the neckline of the bodice as above. Wrong sides together, sew the sides of each piece together so it forms a big tubey thing, turn inside out and iron! Take the wrong side of the collar (the side which will face inward) and sew the edge to the edge of the neckline (wrong side against wrong side - any raw edges should be zig-zagged first!). Open the collar out the right way round and iron.
For the second shape, make sure the length matches up with the armholes. Sew the ends of each piece together so you end up with two circles. Hem one side, sew the other side to the armhole, matching up the seams.
This step is optional. If you have some hooks and eyes on hand (or just hooks, really), use a needle and thread to sew a little loop on one side of the collar, and a hook on the other side (you will have to do this from underneath the collar so it is hidden). This way you can make your dress a little less revealing quickly and easily if you so choose.
Anyway, sew the bodice of the dress to the skirt (right sides together) on the elastic in the same way as before i.e. pulling the elastic taut as you sew. You should now be finished.
