Spotted Mathilde Blouse | DIY

I have finished my second Mathilde Blouse by Tilly Walnes (you can find my first one here) and I am in love! I learnt a lot from making my first blouse and I think this one worked out so much nicer. I loved the very similar blouse Tilly made and knew I had to make one for myself. 

I decided to go with gathers this time as opposed to the tucks. Whilst the tucks look really nice when they are done properly, I found them quite hard last time! Also I think tucks look great on plain material, however they can get a bit lost in a pattern. 

I was a but unsure about the fullness of the sleeves, so last time I cut them short. However this time I decided to give the sleeves ago and I am so happy I did. I absolutely love them! The way they are finished is gorgeous.

I found these gorgeous buttons from Skullbuttonry on Etsy. The buttons are very reasonably priced and all of the proceeds go to charity. I love the look of the wooden buttons with the black and white spots.

I would definitely make another one of these! I have got quite a few sewing projects planned so keep an eye out for posts on those as I finish them :)

What are you currently sewing??

xx

Khaki Mathilde Blouse | DIY

This is the first version of the Mathilde Blouse I have made by Tilly Walnes and I am pretty happy with how it has turned out!

I am not going to lie, the tucks were hard to do! Tilly's instructions were very helpful, but I found it hard to get them all lined up and sitting correctly. 

I decided last minute to make the sleeves shorter (something I should have thought about before I cut them out!) but they turned out quite nicely. This was also due to the fact the sleeves with the cuff were not quite turning out how I wanted them to!

I was very proud of the fact my buttons and button holes lined up properly! I have never been very good at button holes, however whilst making this top I discovered I was using the wrong sewing machine foot! Once I changed to the one I should be using (it allows you to see a lot more) the button holes turned out perfectly  I also discovered my machine has a button foot which made sewing on the buttons so much quicker and means they are much more stable!

I am not a huge fan of the material. I love the colour, but it was quite a cheap fabric and is very prone to creasing (as you might be able to tell!)

I am in the middle of making a second Mathilde Blouse - very similar to this one Tilly made for herself so keep an eye out!

Have you made any of Tilly's patterns? 

xx

 

Megan-Clemente Combination | DIY

This dress is my second garment from my Love at First Stitch book by Tilly Walnes. It is a combination of the Megan dress and Clemente skirt. You can find the post on my first Megan dress here.

I was inspired by this pin on Pinterest. 

I made a few changes to the Megan top including making the top longer and replacing the dart tucks with straight darts. Originally I was just going to take the darts out all together, but realised the top looked frumpy and had no shape, so I decided to add in longer straight darts. 

I love the gathers in this dress, however because this material is quite stiff and the Clemente skirt has a lot of material, the skirt was very flouncy. I decided to take the skirt in slightly which made the it sit a lot nicer.

After undoing this zip 3 times I decided it was finally time for an invisible zipper foot! As I have an older style Bernina, it was harder to find the right zipper foot to fit my machine. There were a few stores in my area that stocked them, but I wasn't prepared to pay the $50 they were asking! I finally found this one on eBay for $27 (including postage) and received it within a week.

I am so glad I finally invested in one as it was so so easy to use. I used this great instructional video from Craftsy (free!) to install the zip.

Tilly always stresses the importance of finishing off your garments properly. By going that extra mile to finish off the raw edges, press the garment and hem it neatly, it will always look like a professional job.

I am really happy with how this dressed turned out! It will become a favourite during Spring and Summer.

Have you made anything from Tilly's book? I love how easy it is to customise the patterns to suit your needs.

- J x

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Megan Dress | DIY

The Megan dress is my first project from Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

This dress was relatively easy to make (Tilly includes fantastic picture instructions with all her patterns) however I would probably not reccommend this pattern for a beginner.

I love the way this dress fits. The darts and dart tucks ( a first for me!) ensure the dress hugs the body in all the right places.

I really like the use of the invisible zip. This was the first time I had used one, however it is not very easy (or cheap!) to get an invisible zipper foot for my machine. I watched a few YouTube videos and eventually worked out how to install an invisible zipper with my normal zipper foot. 

There are a few things I will work on for next time. The sleeves stick up a bit, so I need to work on my gathering. My dart tucks were far from perfect (I think I should have pressed them slightly better) and I need to get way better at installing an invisible zip. 

Overall I am happy with how this has turned out and I will certainly be making another one...very soon!

- J x

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My Coco | DIY

I was introduced to the blog Tilly and the Buttons by Michelle from Coco and the Girls a few months ago and have finally gotten around to making Tilly's Coco top. It was such a lovely top to make and the pattern was so easy to follow.