A Couple of Seamwork Patterns & A Giveaway!!

So way back at the beginning of March, Funki Fabrics contacted me with the offer of free fabric in exchange for a blog post mentioning their name and linking to their website. I have never been approached by any company  to do something like this before, so I was extremely flattered to be noticed, but a little apprehensive. It did feel good to have a company say that they value my opinion as a sewist, but I do understand that they are getting the benefit of free advertising as well.  I hummed and hawed for about a week about whether or not to do it. I mean there seemed to be a number of Funki Fabrics posts out there already (although not nearly as many as there are now), and honestly, it's not the type of fabric I normally would use (they specialize mainly in athletic and dancewear fabric - and let's be honest I'm not a good enough dancer to need dancewear and I am definitely not an athlete. Gym? What's a gym?). But in the end, the offer of free fabric and curiosity of what it might be like won out, and I decided to give it a go. I know that a lot of people have been made the same offer, so I'm sorry if this post is a bit redundant. A number of bloggers have made leggings and that seemed like the natural choice for me too, until I spotted this amazing cotton stretch fabric. I wasn't entirely sure what it would be like, but I requested it hoping it would be more my style, along with two other lycra  prints for leggings (Funki Fabrics offered me 4m in total). Anyway, weeks went by, and no fabric. It seemed like it must have been lost in the mail or something. It was kind of weird, because I have never had anything go missing in the mail, plus around the same time that FF sent out my order, I had ordered some denim from Ditto Fabrics in the UK and it arrived in just over a week with no problems. Luckily, the lovely people at Funki Fabrics were kind enough to send out another package, and it arrived about a week later. I was pleasantly surprised by the cotton stretch fabric, it is super soft and has a great 4 way stretch. I've only washed it once, but it washed up well and seems like it won't pill over time. I was going to make a dress out of it, but I didn't have quite enough fabric for the pattern I had in mind (poor planning on my part). Anyways, as I was browsing through my pattern stash, I was also reading the April issue of Seamwork. So far, I haven't found very many of the Seamwork patterns super appealing, but there was something about that Astoria pattern that finally made me want to try one.  And coincidentally, this Funki Fabrics cotton elastane flexlite was perfect for it. #winning

I had no idea what I would pair the Astoria with, so I decided I would just make the Bristol skirt from Seamwork too. It looked like a pretty good outfit on the model.  I wasn't super in love with the skirt at first glance, I mean it has a kangaroo pocket - interesting detail perhaps, but not necessarily the most flattering. Anyway, it seemed like it would be a quick and easy sew, and sometimes you have to try something to know if you like it.

Both Seamwork pdfs went together okay, I had a bit of trouble getting the lines to match up on a few pages, but for the price, I'm not complaining too much. The Astoria was a super quick sew, constructed with my serger and then topstitched with my coverstitch machine. The fabric performed beautifully, and was a perfect match to this little crop top.

When I first tried on this skirt, I wasn't overly keen on it, but looking at it now in these photos, I think it's actually quite cute. I think that it would be better with side seam pockets on my figure. I have a tummy, so the pocket in front kind of accentuates that, rather than flatters, and I'm not 100% thrilled with the elastic waistband either. It's really comfy, but for some reason I find it a bit bulky. I did not like the way the pattern instructions had you attach the waistband. You sew up the back seam, then press it in half, then you put the elastic inside, stretch and pin it in place, then you attach the waistband to the skirt, whilst trying to stretch everything to match. Um what?? That was so ridiculous to me. Why not attach the waistband, leave an opening, insert the elastic, and stitch up the opening. The end result is the same. So weird, and lots of unnecessary struggling - I even broke a needle!! Ugh! Anyway, if you decide to make this skirt, you might want to change that bit of construction.

For Astoria, I made a straight size Large, and I think it fits really well. I am in love with the neckline, the length, and the hemband. For the Bristol skirt, I made a size 12 (based on my waist measurement I should have made a 14) and I would probably would have been happier with a size 10. I also had to shorten the skirt by 3 inches.

The fabric I used for the skirt is a nice rayon challis that John picked out for me at Walthamstow Market. It's nice and drapey and perfect for a summery skirt. I'm not sure how much I will wear this skirt. I'm trying to be a skirt person, but I just don't seem to be. The Astoria on the other hand will probably get lots of wear. I think it will be perfect over dresses and I think it will even work with high-waisted Gingers. I also think you could lose the band and add a skirt for a Moneta-like look.

So back to Funki Fabrics. I also chose two really cool lycra prints to make leggings out of, and I used my trusty Cake Espresso Leggings pattern. I love wearing leggings for lounging around the house, and I wanted to see what this dancewear fabric was really like. I am happy to report that it's super stretchy with amazing recovery, and it wasn't at all hard to work with. I thought lycra would be slippery and hard to cut, but this wasn't at all. I think if you are looking for cool fabric to make a swimsuit out of, or maybe some kind of athletic outfit, or  even leggings, then this is the place for you. My little sister used to be obsessed with gymnastics when she was young, and she lived in spandex outfits because of her dream of becoming a gymnast. She would have loved and outfit made from this type of fabric. It's a little bit pricey (especially with shipping), but in my opinion, worth it for a speciality garment. They also have lots of stretch velvet, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting some of it. I may still, we'll see.... Anyway, here's my leggings:

You guys know I have a bit of a batman obsession right? That's what really sucked me in - Batman leggings? Yes please!!

And now what you've all been waiting for: THE GIVEAWAY. Just after I finished up my Astoria, the original package from Funki Fabrics arrived (I know because they sent one via Royal Mail/Canada Post and one via DHL). I'm not sure where it was, or why it took so long to get to me, but it finally came. I offered to send it back to Funki Fabrics as they had already been so generous with letting me try their fabric for free, but they decided that I could keep it and do with it what I see fit. I decided I would do a giveaway.  So if you would like to win an exact replica of my order: 2 metres of a delicious cotton jersey-ish fabric, along with 1 metre of crazy Batman print lycra, and 1 metre of a psychedelic butterfly kaleidoscope lycra print, leave a comment below and I will enter you into the draw.

I will leave the draw open until Monday May 4th, and announce the winner on Tuesday May 5th. Seeing as it will be me footing the bill for the shipping, I will ship to anywhere in the world so you can enter from anywhere - yay for no restrictions! Good luck everybody and happy sewing!

****This giveaway is now closed - to see who won click here.****

Where Heather Sews - Finally A Sewing Post!

I feel like I've been doing copious amounts of fabric shopping (and blogging about it), and not nearly enough sewing (and blogging about it). Well that all stops today - I have finally put together a sewing post complete with awkward/terrible selfies. Woo hoo! We are currently, chilling at our country place on White Lake, and I have brought all, well most of, my sewing gear. So while John's out fishing, I'm sewing. I've actually been having a ton of fun, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some frustrating moments. Which brings us to the first project I will share with you: Espresso Leggings by Cake. This is actually a really cool pattern. You take various measurements of your legs, waist and rise, and then you connect the dots, and voila: you have your very own custom leggings pattern. I've had this pattern for weeks, but haven't tried it. I had read lots of great things about it: that it was super easy and resulted in amazing custom fit leggings. I always have problems with getting store bought leggings to fit. I think it's because of my super short legs, so I was super keen to try this.

Let the great leggings adventure begin! Have you ever had one of those days where nothing goes right? No matter what you do? That was how my day went when I first attempted these leggings. I have only been sewing clothes for about 4 months now, so I was fully prepared for my test pair to not be perfect (or was I?). Don't get me wrong, I had my fingers crossed and hoped that because this pattern was so "easy" that they would be perfect, but I was also prepared to cut myself some slack. Well, my first pair I couldn't even get on! I made a classic rookie mistake. It was a 2-way stretch fabric, and I cut my leggings so that the stretch was vertical instead of horizontal. DOH! I couldn't even get over my knees. I felt pretty silly, but I shrugged and laughed it off. I still had enough fabric left over for another pair, no harm, no foul.

Second attempt: somehow I made them about 5 inches too short, and they were pretty much cutting off the circulation to my feet. Plus my butt fell out when I sat down. Not a good thing. What did I do wrong?? (Um, measure twice, cut once Heather, hello-oh!) At this point I was pretty tired and frustrated, so I called it a night, but I vowed to not be defeated and told myself I would try again the next day.

Third attempt: Success!! I had John go over my measurements with me again, and it turned out that I had completely miss measured the length of my legs, and I didn't do a very good job measuring my rise either. So with new measurements in hand, I made a completely new template and discovered that I had marked some of my dots wrong, which also added to my fit issues. Anyway, long story longer, my third pair turned out pretty awesome. So awesome that I made a second pair, and then a third pair. Cue awkward selfies:

Ya that's my butt! These ˆˆˆ are my favourite of the three pairs. They fit awesome, and I love the crazy print. I have no idea what I will wear them with in real life, but I picture them with a long black tunic top, or maybe a simple black knit dress. I am sure I will think of something.

Don't I look totally 80's on my bottom half? Excuse my lulu hoodie, I was just lounging around. What happened to my face, why is it so blurry? And what's going on with my hair? I s that what it always looks like?

While these ones don't look that flattering in pictures, they are pretty awesome too. I got both of these fabrics from Denver Fabrics and they are both an ITY knit. At the time I had no idea what an ITY knit was (and to be honest I still don't) or what it felt like, but it was cheap and pretty, and when it arrived, I saw that it had tons of stretchy-ness so I thought it would make great leggings. And the best part, so far this fabric repels pug hair. Score!

My last pair, are just plain black leggings. Probably the most practical of the three. I got the fabric from Girl Charlee, and it is a super soft cotton jersey. I am hoping that they won't stretch out over time, but we'll have to see. Unfortunately, this fabric attracts pug hair, so not the best fabric for lounging around cuddling my grumble, but great for out of the house attire (with a long top or dress of course).

Whoa, what am I doing in this pose? And how did my face get so shiny? Of course no selfie is complete without a pug or two hanging out.

So that's pretty much it for leggings. While this project didn't start off the greatest, I am glad I persevered, as I am thrilled with my new leggings.  I also learned a couple of things about my crotch curve and how to fit pants so fingers crossed that helps with future makes. Hopefully this post wasn't too painful for you, as there will be more coming your way.

Do you sew? Have you ever made your own clothes or clothes for someone else? Got any tips for me on taking selfies? (Or maybe in airbrushing? LOL.)