This week has been a welcome distraction from the current reality or our world. I’ve been digging into the wonderful new book, Sewing Basics for Every Body from the always wonderful Wendy Ward. A collection of patterns for core basics, designed and drafted so brilliantly, that they look great on any gender. Hence the “Every Body” (as opposed to “everybody”) title. Clever huh?

The blog tour started a couple of weeks ago and is being organised by Cico Books  with fabrics provided by George and the team at Fabworks. So far it’s featured Mercedes, Fiona, and  Zoe, So be sure to check them out! Next up is me; and then after that you have the delights of Ben and Elisalex to come.

 

The book comes with 3 double sided pattern sheets with the pieces for each pattern marked out in their own colour. So first stage of realising any of these patterns is tracing them off.  No pretence here. I hate tracing patterns! BUT I loved Wendy’s designs. They are right up my strata. Relaxed, loose fitting styles with an androgynous feel. I particularly love men’s tailoring on the female form.  Generally the pieces are really easy to make out through Swedish Tracing Paper; even thought it’s a bit of a visual overwhelm when you first clap eyes on it! I opted for the Harper Classic pants though, and THOSE pattern pieces are marked out in a pale grey which was a taddly tricky! But other patterns on the sheet would be pretty easy to make out.

I opted for a gorgeous soft caramel twill from Fabworks. Rather spookily the same one Fiona chose for her wonderful boiler suit. If we ever meet up after the pandemic has passed we could have a matchy matchy coffee date drinking caramel lattes and eating caramel shortbread…

The Harper Classic pants, designed for woven fabrics; are a relaxed fit, pleat front trouser with cut away pockets, fly front fastening and a cinching tab at the back waist. There is a variation for a knit version with drawstring/elasticated waist and a number of variations inbetween if you allow your imagination and creativity to have a play. Which naturally I did because I can never leave a pattern well alone and am compelled to hack everything, lol!

Essentially I squared off the front and back legs as pictured above, and blended with the side seams and inseams to create more of a wide leg culotte shaped trouser. Length wise these are 41cm from the knee line on the pattern piece to the hem. (Including a 1.5cm hem allowance).

I didn’t want to cut my pocket bags from the twill so I used an old shirt that Elliott has outgrown.

 

However, because they are cutaway pockets I employed a little trick on the underpocket that I’ve picked up from RTW men’s tailoring. (See above). The twill “add on” is a little bit bigger than the part that will be visible behind the cutaway pocket curve. So as far as anyone will be able to see when wearing, it will appear as if my pockets are the same fabric as my trousers. But inside is a gingham check party!

The pattern calls for a couple of d rings for the waist cinching tab at the back. I only had super huge D rings so I adapted and used a waistcoat slider/buckle I had in my stash.

This required a slightly narrower strap than the pattern…..

I’m really pleased with the way the style of the buckle combines with the colour and the fabric to give the whole thing a slight 1940’s military vibe…this detail reminds me of my Dad’s RAF uniform when I was a child.

I went for the same contrasting fabric for my fly shield, as for the pocket bags, a white brass metal zip and a scrap of twill tape as a hanging loop. (I have taken to hanging my trousers on door hooks between wears because I is lazy like dat!) Everything apart from the fabric I made a point of only using what was in my stash because….pandemic.

Genuinely love these trousers AND this fabric. (Even though my resting bitch face would never betray that, lol!) If you haven’t checked this book out yet and, like me, you are a fan of these kinds of relaxed androgynous basics, I thoroughly recommend checking it out. Wendy’s drafting and instructions are meticulous and you’ll be in excellent hands.

This post has been a ridiculously long time coming. I actually made this last summer….JUST before I launched into the craziness of The Refashioners. Meaning to blog it when The Refashioners finished, then finding myself hitting the buffers and screeching to a halt energy wise. (That’s why it’s been pretty quiet around here of late). Now I’ve just dug this denim lovely out again in preparation for spring, it seemed the perfect time to share some details.  Mostly THESE giant pillar box pockets…

They really are the standout feature of this make so the main focus. The rest is pretty standard. I used the pattern hack I did for this jacket as the base, but with wider 3/4 length sleeves; and traced the opening and neckline to create a facing (below) rather than the bound edge with zip fastening.  So it’s an open jacket if that makes sense. The denim (here) is LUSH and has washed and worn beautifully. So far have tried 2 different denims from Sew Essential and both are da bomb!

The facing gives a really simple and clean finish around the neckline and opening….

The cuffs are also faced to add a bit of weight/structure and echo the neckline finish…

Just a band, sew RS together and raw edges aligned with the sleeve hem…

Then flipped out and pressed away from the sleeve (That raw edge will get enclosed in a minute)…

Understitch….ALWAYS understitch…

Then turn and press to the inside….and topstitch from the outside.

Now the pockets. I kinda accidentally did this for the first time while trying to learn how to do a welt pocket. I decided I really liked the effect (Basically a welt pocket without the welt, and a patch combined) and it kinda sat in my subconscious for almost 2 years (!) until I made this.  Essentially, GIANT rectangles with all edges pressed under and machine basted in place. Place a narrow rectangle of fabric RS down and mark and stitch a box as pictured. Mine is about 1cm wide. You could make it wider if you wanted a wider “pillarbox opening” on your pocket. snip down the middle and into the corners….right up to the stitching but not through it…

The fiddly part is flipping that facing through to the wrong side and getting it to lay flat. Lots of steam, pressing and wiggling!

Here’s how it looks from the outside. Like a postbox opening!

I topstitched right around the opening close to the folded/pressed edge. Then another line of topstitching outside of that to echo the twin stitching I had done on the rest of the garment…

The whole “patch” pocket is then pinned in position and all four edges stitched to the garment. So whereas a normal patch pocket would have the top edge open, this one has the top edge sealed and the pillarbox “slit” as your means of accessing the pocket…

A little bit of  subtle “quirk” on an otherwise simple coat…

Also added a little label action to this one (you can tell when I’m pleased with a make, lol!). The scrap of leather can from a sample swatch from a sofa manufacturer…labels from The Dutch Label Shop…

All that’s needed now is some warmer weather here in the UK so I can switch from my winter coat to this beaut! C.mon Spring!!

It’s been a while since I made any alterations to my set up in ShedQ. If you want to get more of a feel for my set up and layout you can check out the build and kitting out posts for my space here and here. But before I move onto this particular diy, I ought to mention this big expanse of blue in the picture below….as it’s kinda pertinent to the rest of this post….

Essentially this is a HUGE blackout roller blind that I put up last year and am using as a photographic backdrop. (Click here for the blind I used). Essentially the painted white walls of ShedQ were not providing enough of a contrast to get sufficient definition in some photos so I installed this to address that issue and it works pretty well for that purpose I have to say!

Because of the way a roller blind is mounted there is a decent size recess between it, and the wall. And there….is where today’s DIY is hiding! Like a hidden strategy board in a Bond villain’s lair….

So why a wipeable board? When I’m designing say, a patternless project for the magazine, I like to plan it out first. I’m quite a visual person and often need to draw things out, and figure out measurements and calculations to get the process straight in my head before I crack on with it. Consequently I get through alot of paper which is not ideal. This way, I kind of have a massive sheet of pattern paper that lasts forever and can be used over and over and over again.  It allows me to adjust/tweak/write the whole thing up as I go….full size if I want….without wasting large amounts of paper or scrabbling around on my cutting table for a notebook. I can jot a measurement down…..write a reminder…rejig the order etc. When I’m done….wipe clean and onto the next project. Basically all the benefits of an office whiteboard but the kicker…..it’s made with dressmakers squared paper! So I can draw to scale, plan pattern adjustments etc…

So…here’s how. Materials are fairly straightforward and you can make this any size you want. You can also experiment with different backing materials. As long as the front is acrylic/plexiglass type material so that it’s see through and wipeable. Mine is 1m by 60cm and the sheets for it were supplied cut to that size (they cut them to any size you specify):

100cm  x 60cm backing board (I used this opal 3mm acrylic sheet)

100cm  x 60cm clear perspex/acrylic/plexiglass (I used this clear 2mm acrylic sheet)

Dressmakers squared paper (here)

6 x Stand off wall fixings (here)

Really straightforward. Adhere your paper to the backing board, then trim with a craft knife all along the edges.

I used double sided tape either end BUT if I did this again…I might test out spray adhesive. So the paper is completely stuck down across the whole expanse of the board rather than just where there is a strip of double sided tape (if that makes sense?).

Lay the clear sheet on top. Clamp all layers together . (I  used bulldog clips because it’s what I had to hand)

The aim is to drill a hole the size of the fixing, through all layers. BUT….acrylic needs to be drilled carefully and slowly. You’ll need a drill bit with a really sharp tip like the ones on the left in the pic above. Not the brass or aluminium ones (wood and masonry). You also have  to go slow, drill a pilot hole first with the smallest size drill bit….then work your way up through the drill bits. Gradually enlarging the hole with a larger drill bit at each pass,  until it is the size you want. This, and the masking tape in the image below, will avoid slipping, cracking and chipping and the like.

Now peel back the protective film of the clear top sheet, brush away any drill dust that may have gotten inbetween the layers and insert the “male” part of your fixing. I did this at 6 points (3 along the top and 3 along the bottom) for the size of board I have. So now essentially there is an acrylic sheet sandwich with dressmakers paper in the middle…

The back part of the fixing gets fixed to the wall so the board can be screwed into place like so…

Ta dah!

There are so many variations of this concept I can think of. Obviously this one is for use in my sewing space. But I can see me making a smaller version as a wipeable shopping list in my kitchen….a maths or art board for little man in his bedroom. Or as a decorative rather than functional piece to display precious textiles, kiddo art or family photogaphs.  Also eyeing up old picture frame glass and backing board that could be repurposed using this concept.

I shall be getting through alot less paper anyhow!

 

 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post that contains affiliate links. As always, all views and ideas expressed are entirely my own.