Animal Glow Peppermint Playsuit hack

I don't know if you are aware but Minerva have created their own range of exclusive fabrics and I was lucky enough to be given the chance to sew one of them up. This is the Minerva Exclusive Viscose Challis in Animal Glow print.

I excitedly waited weeks for this to arrive and was away when it finally came through the letterbox. I had much excitement as I opened the bag to discover this beautiful drapey fabric.
The fabric is a white substrate with the design printed on top. It is a fine challis with a lovely handle and drapes beautifully and doesn’t crease too much either. Perfect for the very hot weather we are having right now.

I decided weeks and weeks ago what I would make with this. In fact I had the idea last year and have just been waiting for the ideal fabric to do this in. I’m not really an animal print sort of girl, but when I saw this and in this colourway I knew it was a perfect match.

The pattern is a hacked version of the free Peppermint/ In the folds playsuit pattern. The pattern can be downloaded free from the Peppermint magazine website, but you can pay as you wish if you are able to support them.

I have made the playsuit before - in recycled jeans for my daughter. We are the same size so I knew it would be a good base. I cut a straight size C (could have actually gone with the B in this fabric). I lengthened and widened the legs so they were more like a palazzo pant leg and omitted the patch pockets. I figured that they wouldn’t work so well in such a light fabric. Instead, I added one inseam pocket on the opposite side to the zip.

Otherwise I kept the construction the same. I added interfacing to the straps and the facing and should really have added a strip to the top edge of the bodice as it did roll a bit, despite understitching it. This was easily solved by stitching the facing to the shell along the seam lines - essentially stitching in the ditch. I can’t even tell where the stitching is and I’m wearing it right
now.

I used the overlocker to neaten and finish all the seams and the hems are a 3 step baby hem, which is perfect on this fabric.

Viscose challis is notoriously shifty to cut and sew, but I found this really stable. It didn’t stretch out of shape at all during construction, but it is well worth stay stitching this type of fabric.

My top tips for working with viscose challis:
Overlock the edge of the fabric before pre-washing to prevent any shredding.
Don’t trim seam allowances too closely to avoid holes developing later.
Use a new microtex needle for sewing.
Use a light interfacing with some stretch on light fabrics such as this - it helps prevent bubbling of the fabric over time and still keeps the characteristics of the fabric while providing support.
I think I might just be wearing this a lot this week - without the t-shirt as it is so cool against the skin.

Summer Sewing

 

 

During the lovely warm spell we had a few weeks ago, I decided to make a simple summer slip dress. Typically, as soon as it was completed the weather cooled and it was sat in the draw waiting for a warm day.
Last Thursday was that day (which turned out to be more eventful). I popped on the dress and headed into town for a wee shopping trip with my daughter (fabric shop vouchers right).
This is a Burdastyle dress from the magazine. I can’t find exactly which one. All I remember is that it was a lining for another dress. The dress is cut on the bias and is super simple to sew up. It’s just two pattern pieces and some bias binding.

I have made this before and found that the front gaped a little as it was too wide, so I narrowed it just a little. I also ended up taking in the side seams just under the arms a bit. I’ve now made these changes to the pattern pieces.
Despite this being bias cut, it still has back waist darts to give shaping and bust darts. I sewed this up in this tiny skull print Dashwood Studio cotton poplin. The fabric is smooth and handles well. It has enough body that I didn’t need to consider a lining. Making bias binding with this fabric was a breeze. It presses well and holds its shape, but equally while wearing it didn’t crease much, making it perfect for holiday or travel wear.

I was originally going to make a longer dress but thought knee-length was better for this fabric. I had 3m and this dress took about 2m. The rest was made into shorts.

The day was certainly interesting. My daughter, hubby and I headed into Newcastle. First up my daughter and I headed to Pure Ink for new piercings. I got my nose done and my daughter had her nose and conch done. We celebrated her results and acceptance at Salford Uni with a cheeky Nandos and then headed to John Lewis for fabric. I bought rigid denim for some Dawn jeans. I was going to buy some needle cord, but it was badly faded and the shop assistant didnt seem to want to offer a discount, so I left it.

We had tea at home and my hubby and I set out for our regular session at the local indoor skatepark. I had big plans for dropping in on the big ramp, but while I was still warming up I slipped and landed awkwardly on my wrist. I knew it wasn't right and after 5 mins with an ice pack on, it was quite obviously broken, so we headed to A&E. Hence the following photos are of me sporting an attractive pink cast.

I digress, as I mentioned before, I also made shorts from this lovely Dashwood Studio skull print cotton poplin. I thought these would make cute skate shorts, but broken arm and I suspect once this cast is off it will be back to longer trousers!

The pattern I used is a bit of a mystery. I found it free online last year but now can’t find the source. I did make it up last year, but didn’t love the fabric and passed on the shorts to a friend. You can read about the pattern details here.

I altered the pockets so that they are anchored in the fly front and made them a little deeper. Shallow pockets are such a waste of space.

The zip and button were from my stash. The orange zip fits perfectly with the orange in the print. I’ve already worn these way more than the ones I made last year. Hoping that the rest of August brings some nice warm weather before I’m back to work in September.