Easy to sew Jumpsuit and Jacket : Simplicity 8178

This is a Jaycotts post and it is a very simple to sew Jumpsuit for all levels of ability.

 As seen on the GBSB 2019

Labels

seam tape
using a pattern
Beginners

Jumpsuits do not show any sign of going out of fashion, and no wonder as they can be smart or casual or somewhere in between. They can take you anywhere and come into their own on holiday for day or evening. They are so comfortable!

Make it in Satin at MinervaCrafts for your party or special occasion - plain, print, glittery or animal print, one of these is perfect for you - and will cost you a lot less than ready made!

NB to view fabrics in the sale at MinervaCrafts go to MinervaCrafts Fabric Sale  you might just find a bargain! 

The pattern I chose is Simplicity 8178  I chose it because it is suitable even for sewing newbies as it has minimal pieces and does not have any fastenings - so no zipper or buttonholes to worry about.
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There is a choice between straight and flared legs, I chose the wider flared leg.

I chose a floral crepe fabric for the main garment and plain crepe for the jacket, both widely available.  View Crepe Fabrics
This particular fabric is rather busy! More suited to holiday wear I feel. A chambray or a linen would be good fabric choices, the pattern also suggests sateen which would be lovely and Ponte Roma but if you choose this then make sure it is not too heavy and that it has a good drape.
Wash, dry and press your fabric before cutting out as a lot of fabrics shrink.

If ever you want to use a fabric such as wool for a coat or jacket then don't wash it, when I come to do my next coat blog I will show you how to shrink fabric without washing it.

If you are new to sewing then you may not understand the sizing. Pattern sizes are not the same as your commercial dress size, usually commercial garments are "vanity" sized and as you know the fit varies a lot from store to store.

So the first thing you need to do is to take your measurements and compare them to the measurements on the back of the pattern.
You may find that your top and bottom are different sizes but that doesn't matter as it is easy to cut out the top in one size and the bottom in another and merge the two sizes together at the waist.

How to sew very Easy Totes and Shopping bags

Be plastic free at the supermarket

I am often told that many of us are inspired to make our own bags and we go and buy a lovely pattern, but that's as far as we ever get - mostly. The reason seems to be that these patterns require so many different and unfamiliar fabrics,interlinings and other notions which are either hard to obtain or are too expensive, or both.

In this post I am going to show you how to make a very easy Tote bag for your shopping and then I will  adapt the same design by first of all adding a lining, and then by making the bag larger to make a practical beach bag and finally a stylish faux leather large Tote with embroidery. 

Why not use a patterned fabric, do some simple applique, print your logo  or even hand embroidery, it doesn't really matter. 
In fact it's a great way to use up fabric scraps or even discarded clothes. The whole point is that we all need shopping bags and if you know how to make your own you will never be short of a bag again. The best thing is that if you use leftover fabric they are free!

Skills learned

Labels

• French seam
• Making a basic tote
• Adding a lining
• Sewing with faux leather 
• Using a commercial bag pattern
• Adding a zip

Sewing The Mondrian style top from the GBSB 2016 (Sewing an all in one facing )

This is a top made to embrace the 1960's Mondrian style in honour of the iconic Mondrian dress by Yves Saint Laurent.

A Jaycotts.co.uk How do I do that post


Skills shown in this post are

1. All in one facings
2. Invisible zip 

I love the colour block dress from the Great British Sewing Bee book From Stitch to style, but before I invested in the fabrics I wanted to try out the top first in fabric left over from other projects. This top is based on the MONDRIAN dress created by Yves  Saint laurent in 1965. Made to be worn as a cocktail dress the Mondrian was made from heavy silk crepe so that it hung straight in the body.  It quickly became the most iconic dress of the 1960s

This top was made in Art Gallery Fabric , this particular fabric is a very high end cotton print. You can use any cotton fabric  so long as you get a good contrast with the black bands.  All the fabrics need to be the same weight.
If you do fancy indulging yourself and buying some Art Gallery fabric Minerva Fabrics sell it,  Art Gallery fabrics .these are print fabrics but are gorgeous.


There are other linen, cotton ,and linen blends available too Cotton and cotton blend dress fabrics

And if you want to go back to the traditional colours there are lots of plain cotton's too, these are. Cotton Lawn fabric
The quality and price of all of these is excellent


The original Mondrian was made from panels of blue, white and acid yellow interspaced with black. My modern interpretation is in a light coloured print fabric with black bands added to form the iconic design.

The top is amazing don't you think and can be made fairly quickly.

 This tutorial shows you how to do an all in one facing.

You need to follow the link below to read the rest of the post.....

A Black wool lined pencil skirt with a touch of Embroidery

A lined pencil skirt, with a touch of Embroidery. 

A very similar post to this was featured on the MinervaCraftsBloggerNetwork recently A wool and Mohair mix pencil skirt .but I wanted to share some of the information about making toiles with you too.

The pattern I chose is a skirt pattern from Butterick - B6184. I chose this because it has a high waistline which features heavily this season. This particular pattern is out of stock, but it does not matter because any pencil skirt pattern can be used. Take a look at the choice, Pencil skirt patterns

In this post I am not going to give you a skirt tutorial as such  because after all skirts are simple to make right? - wrong. Well, they are simple but if you are making a pencil skirt the fit just HAS to be right! So that is what this post is about, fit.

What is the difference between a Tailored and non tailored garment, in pictures

What is the difference between tailored and non-tailored garments?

Hello, this is here by request. I know I said that I wasn't going to write a blog for a few weeks as I am busy making a coat, but so many of you have requested to see some of the garments I made at college over 30 years ago, so here I am blogging when I should be sewing.

First of all watch my you tube video as much of the explanation is there and it saves me having to type when I should be sewing!

Direct link to video if it doesn't show is Tailored vs non-tailored

In this video you will clearly see the difference between a Tailored and non-tailored coat or jacket.

Here are close up photos of my ancient garments, fully tailored, totally sewn by hand, and which took six months to a year to make! However you can see how well they have survived despite being in a suitcase for many years.

This is one of my examination garments. I had to make a winter coat without using a pattern of any sort. The fabric is Mohair and cost me £80 which was an absolute fortune then. This coat is extremely heavy!

Sew yourself some Croppped Pants and a matching Top

This is a Jaycotts.co.uk post using Simplicity 8391

This is such an easy outfit to make, with or without embroidery. It is suitable for beginners upwards.

Skills learned

Centred Zip

Pintucks

Pressing

Positioning of embroidery/applique
Button loops
Zipper foot

When I first saw this pattern I wasn't sure if it would suit me or not. Wrong! I decided as soon as I tried it on that I love this outfit.It is perfect for holidays, flattering and easy to sew. I like the 3/4 length wide trousers, they are cool to wear in the sun - I like to cover up mostly and I want garments which are easy to wear and light to pack.
I have paired the outfit with a pair of navy wedges.

The pattern is by Simplicity and is available to purchase from Jaycotts Simplicity 8391  In the envelope are patterns for a top, skirt, pants and shorts, everything you need for your holiday in fact.
The fabric is from Minerva Crafts and is a linen look Cotton, Linen look Cotton fabric This fabric is cool to wear and very easy to sew.
The pattern shows the garments made up in cotton trimmed with eyelet fabric or lace, but I wanted to use embroidery on mine - of course!

A Semi-Tailored Coat

The  semi-tailored coat. 

I wanted to make a coat which would be smart and structured and last well. I immediately thought back to my days at college studying Tailoring and actually tried on a few of the garments I still have and noticed that after over 30 years they still look like new. They are timeless and hard wearing and that is what I wanted to achieve with this coat.

I think that you will agree that this coat fits the bill perfectly. It is a classic shape, it fits well, the colour suits me and I will be able to wear it  for almost any occasion.

So, what pattern did I choose? Firstly the pattern is by Kwik Fit and it has princess seams, a high neckline , button front and a vented back. If you want to make the shorter version you will relieve yourself of the need to sew a vent in the back, although it is honestly not difficult.
This is a wool blend coating which is a very reasonable price. Also  choose any sateen or satin though to contrast or match your coat fabric

I was just going to use it for facings but there was enough for the pocket linings and to line the front and back. The sleeves were lined in an remnant of ordinary lining fabric in pink. It is quite acceptable to do this, in fact if your main lining is not very silky you will find that an acetate or silk sleeve lining makes it easier to get the garment on and off.

You need an iron on woven interfacing

I cannot hope to show you how to properly tailor a garment in a blog post, it takes years to master the craft fully, but I will give you some hints and tips to supplement the pattern instructions so that you can make a semi-tailored coat.
What is tailoring? We think of men's suits don't we. But tailoring is the umbrella term used to describe the specialist stitches , methods and fabrics used to construct, or engineer a garment made to last. The horse hair interfacings and the pad stitches are used to put shape into the fabric which will last forever. This is all usually done by hand. If you are interested in learning a bit more do let me know.

How to sew a man's shirt - great gift idea .

Sew a man's shirt.

Don't be daunted by the thought of sewing a man's shirt. In many ways they are easier than sewing for women. I'm thinking that maybe I might reconsider if I were asked to make one for a muscular body builder type,( I'm picturing "large chest" adjustment, "biceps adjustment", hmm, not impossible but luckily but most men are pretty straightforward to sew for.
They are great for gifting to the man who has everything and so I am busy sewing shirts for Christmas at the moment. They are enjoyable to sew in my opinion and you can add individual touches as you go along.

You can never find a man when you want one can you, so I ended up having to model it myself.
Hmmmm, maybe if I shortened the sleeves I could keep it????

A Luxury Lined Pencil Skirt in Italian Wool and Mohair Mix Fabric

A MCBN post


Pencil skirts are really fashionable this year and I want to give you a few hints and tips which will easily turn yours from handmade to designer.

The fabric is Italian Wool and Mohair Mix fabric.  and it is utterly beautiful.

Do read my post on the. Minerva Crafts Blog    and find out how to make and use a toile ( test garment) which you can use time and time again.

I look forward to reading your comments

#sewangelicthreads

#skirt #pencilskirt #lining #toile #fitting #woolfabric #sewing #sew #tutorial 

Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery Australia Cutest Cupcake Collection

A Jaycotts Post

Sweet Pea "In the Hoop" Machine embroidery designs.

A while ago I was fortunate to meet the Sweet Pea team and see their amazing designs close up.

Sweet Pea were invited by Brother UK to do a roadshow in the UK and Germany and we were very fortunate that Jaycotts was chosen as one of the few locations to host an event promoting their incredible in the hoop embroidery designs

Cutest Cupcake Collection

Since then Jaycotts have been able to stock three of their designs to sell online and in the store. 

If you have not come across Sweet Pea before then you are in for a treat. This is embroidery at its most exciting, the designs are mostly made entirely in the hoop,and what stunning designs they are!