The loudest cover up in the world!

OK folks, sorry about the slight blog lull there, we got back from holiday at 3am on Sunday morning, thus totally negating all relaxing vibes from the break and I’ve been functioning on auto pilot ever since!

I’ve also been sewing like a mad thing, but on a project I can’t share with you just yet, so in the mean time,  I thought I’d carry on with the holiday makes.  Incredibly, there are still several to show you!

Next up though is probably the one that got the most wear on holiday, largely because it was so flippin’ hot, we spent a large proportion of each day by the pool.  Cover ups are a must in my book, not being a fan of wandering about away from the pool in only my bikini!

So you may remember I was getting quite excited about the Closet Case Files “Sallie” pattern before my hols, making both the maxi dress and the culotte jumpsuit ahead of the hols.  At this point, I was seriously in love with the pattern and so I decided to have a bash at a hack I’d seen a few times when googling the pattern, namely a play suit.

I decided to use some jersey from The Shuttle, bought in a mad dash on the way home from work one evening.  I have no clue on the fabric content here, it was described merely as an “ex-designer piece” but at £15 for slightly under 2 metres, I loved it too much to leave it behind. Not the world’s most subtle print, I’m sure you’ll agree!

I hacked the leg pieces by simply deciding how long I wanted to length down from the crotch to be and drawing a straight line across at 90 degrees to the side at that point; not sure if that’s the approved method, but I reasoned I could pin and adjust the slops as I went along.

I initially cut at 6″ but when I tried it on, really didn’t like the length, so made quite a deep hem.  It’s probably nearer 2″ now but I wouldn’t like to guess and I think the way it hangs will differ so much from one jersey to another, I’d probably still go with cutting it longer and adjusting afterwards.

There’s really not a load else to say here, except that I thought I’d made a mess and only cut a front piece (there’s a pattern piece for the lining and a pattern piece for the bodice; you cut two of each and they’re identical front and back).  I looked all over, couldn’t find it, swore a lot and then went back to cut another bodice piece.  At which point I realised I hadn’t enough fabric left for that.

Panic stations!

I then reasoned that the print is so extreme, no one would notice a back seam so cut two halves and added a seam allowance, instead of cutting on the fold.

Obviously, once I got it to the point of having sewn up the bodice, including my patched back piece, I magically found the missing back piece I had originally cut out on the fold.

Anyone else suffer from gremlins in the sewing room?!

Anyway, I know it’s ludicrously loud but I genuinely absolutely love this!  It got used so much on holiday and there’s obviously a high man made content, because it just didn’t crease, no matter what. Big bonus there, I reckon!

So I think at this point I have definitely had my money’s worth out of the Sallie pattern, but I seriously doubt this will be my last version!

Right, I’m off to plan my autumn sewing, with a little sigh that summer makes are probably just about over for the year.

Becca x