Keira Cardigan in Black

Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.comKeira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.comKeira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Lately, I was so busy sewing (and reading and knitting in order to muster some willingness towards the cold season) that I completely forgot to blog some of the makes we photographed a little while ago. One of these is another version of my KEIRA CARDIGAN, which I released a few weeks ago:

Keira Cardigan by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

The KEIRA Cardigan pattern is a pay as you wish pattern – so it’s basically free unless you choose to pay for it. You can download it here and read more about it here.

Pattern & Adjustments: As mentioned above, I used one of my own patterns for this cardigan. This one is actually one of my test versions I made prior to releasing this pattern. I sewed it up pretty much over a year ago, as I was planning to release the pattern last winter. I made the version with the wide binding around the edges. I only tweaked the sleeves a bit after this one, as the fit was a bit too snug – still wearable though.

Fabric: This jumbo ribbed jersey, which I suspect is almost certainly 100% polyester, is really comfy and was a breeze to sew with. I bought it ages ago in a local fabric store when I still lived in Queen’s Park, London. It was £1.50/m, 60 inch wide. I bought 2 metres of it. The fabric has made an earlier appearance on the blog, as a Lady Skater/Ultimate Pencil Skirt Frankendress. A little black dress I made with a self-drafted sequinned cardigan which is the original KEIRA cardi I based the pattern on.
After wearing this cardigan for more than a year, I am surprised how well this fabric holds up. As you can see in the picture we took recently, there’s no trace of the innumerable times this garment has been in the wash. Pretty good for spending no more than £3 on it considering I managed to squeeze out two garments.

Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com
img_8764

Keira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.comKeira Cardigan free pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com

cardigan: handmade, KEIRA Cardigan by Audrey & Me Patterns
skirt: handmade, Ultimate Pencil Skirt by SEW OVER IT
belt: Primark
T-shirt: C&A

I’ve worn this KEIRA loads in the past year. All through last winter and spring and now again since it’s become really chilly again. Through summer I sometimes wore it instead of a light jacket. It goes with pretty much anything; mini skirts, fitted dresses, skinny jeans – it really is your wardrobe BFF! So far I’ve made four KEIRAs which are rotating pretty quickly as I love wearing them at the moment.

What’s your favourite (handmade?) garment this season?

Have a great week!

xx

Charlie


Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

Another Hepburn Dress: georgette and a satin lining

Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

By now you probably know that I’m a sucker for chiffon and georgette fabrics, although they are difficult to cut out and shit to sew. For some reason I always end up buying at least one chiffon/georgette when I go fabric shopping and this might be due to the fact that these kinds of fabric are usually quite cheap 😀

So, of course I made the second Hepburn using a georgette I bought on Goldhawk Road. It’s creme-coloured and has tiny velvet dots. The fabric is see-through, so I had to line bodice and skirt using a light-grey/silver satin.
Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comI only had a metre of the lining fabric, so I cut out the skirt without the box pleats and also cut out the variation with a shorter hem. I kept skirt made from the georgette fabric long and since I sewed a narrow hem instead of the wider hand-stitched one, this added another 3cm to the length.

As the georgette is see-through, I sewed bodice and lining together right on left side, so that the lining darts are on the inside and only the right side of the lining fabric shows through the georgette (much like an underlining).Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I used the french seam technique for many of the seams, but did not add any extra seam allowance which is why the bodice turned out to be a bit tight (but it’s still wearable just not as comfy as the other dress I made).

Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comI love how this dress is playful and smart at the same time and can’t wait to wear it more often. It’s a bit too chic to wear at work, but it will be perfect for going out with friends.

Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I’ve just finished another variation of the Hepburn, the one with the lowered scooped neckline and a mini skirt, yesterday. I hope you don’t get fed up with the Hepburns too quickly, because there are more to come! 🙂

If you haven’t got the pattern yet, it is now available to purchase and download here:

The Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com


Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

A Hepburn Skirt and bold colour choices

Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comA little while ago, I noticed that I often go very safe in terms of fabric choices. For some reason I never go with the bold prints and colours (with the exception of bright red, I guess) and usually grab all the plain colours, especially navy blue. Since the Hepburn Skirt is perfect for colour-blocking, I decided to go with bolder colours, the ones that I didn’t have in my wardrobe yet but could see myself wearing. Well, here you can see the result!Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comI made the knee-length variation of the Hepburn Skirt and chose to use a different for the front and back side panels. The Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Skirt Front and Back View

I used bright pink and royal blue cotton drill fabric which I got for £3.50/m on Goldhawk Road. Quite a bargain, considering that I needed less than a metre for the size 10 version of the skirt. I cut out two complete skirts in both colours and just swapped the side panel pieces. I haven’t finished the second skirt, pink with blue side panels, but for that one I will go with the thigh high length.

Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I paired the skirt with my sleeveless Lottie Blouse, a perfect combination for work. I still have to figure out which tops go together with these bright colours and for the time being black and white seems to be the best option.

Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comBoth variations of the skirt have a vent in the back which makes walking much more comfortable. The pattern includes instructions on two different techniques to sew a vent. Of course you can also skip the vent and wiggle around Marilyn-style.

The skirt comes together quite quickly, it took just a few hours. I always hand-stitch waistband, vent and hem which took longer than sewing the skirt. Inserting the invisible zipper is probably the most complicated part of sewing the skirt. I think a beginner could totally tackle this pattern.

I recommend using medium to heavy-weight fabric. The cotton drill was perfect for the skirt. They had loads of different colours on Goldhawk Road. I probably will pay them a visit again some time soon to pick up more.
Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comI finished all seams with my new overlocker – such a bliss! I actually now enjoy overlocking more than sewing. Is this normal?IMG_0255Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.com(The seams acutally do not pucker at all, I have no idea why they look so awful in the picture above!)Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comAt the moment I am also working on the fitted Hepburn dress variation which combines both skirt and dress patterns. I will make a knee-length version in a plain colour and at least one mini dress that is colour-blocked. I already picked up all the fabrics a couple of weeks ago and can’t wait to finish the dresses as soon as possible. The dress itself comes with many different variations, but (as you can see in the figure below) when combining both patterns the possibilities are endless.

The Hepburn Dress and Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comHepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Both patterns are available on the audrey & me patterns page now. If you’d like to get both patterns, you can get them in a bundle at a reduced price (yay!).


Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

The Hepburn Dress and an army of horses!

The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.com
After weeks of working my bum off to finally get to the point of releasing my patterns, guess how I spent my first “day off”? Yes, hemming, taking pictures, editing pictures and preparing blog posts. At least I managed to re-watch the second part of Season 1 Game of Thrones while I did that. Phew!

So here it is (and yes, I feel a bit like a proud mum!) – Lady Hepburn, made with a navy polyester fabric with a horse print bought on Goldhawk Road. The fabric almost looks almost black in the pictures, but it’s acutally a really dark navy. The pictures are a bit crap today as I had to make to with tripod and self-timer inside the flat instead of shooting outside with the Mr.The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

I made variation 1 which is my absolute favourite. I really like the neckline pleats as they give the classic 50’s shape a modern touch. The box pleats are quite wide and match up with the waist darts. This way they add quite a bit of volume to the skirt without making you look bigger than you are. I went with the hem option that ends at knee-length which is a bit more appropriate for work.

The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comHere a few close-ups of the neckline as it’s quite hard to see in the pictures due to the busy print:

The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comThe Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comThe Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comThe fabric was quite a bargain – I got it for £4/m at A1 Fabrics (if I remember correctly). It’s a peachskin polyester and the quality was surprsingly good. It’s quite heavy but drapes very well and is super soft and cool to the touch. The white parts of the fabric are not see-through at all and therefore, I could use the same fabric for lining the bodice. Soft inside out!

The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comThe Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.comI’m a bit disappointed that the summer seems to be over so suddenly. Luckily, the Hepburn neckline works really well with a cardigan, so I will be able to wear the dress at work in the next couple of months.

The Hepburn Dress by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

The pattern for the Hepburn Dress is now available as a Print-at-home PDF pattern!

The Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com


Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

Hello audrey&me patterns!

The Hepburn Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I have something super exciting to share with you! After months of work my new patterns are now finally up on le blog and ready for you to download as Print-at-home PDF patterns.

The Hepburn Collection is the first pattern collection of my new pattern company called audrey & me Patterns. The Hepburns consist of a dress and a separate skirt pattern. Both patterns are drafted to fit perfectly together so that you can combine them easily into a chic fitted dress. Depending on the fabric and bodice & skirt options you choose you can make it into a sundress, a dress fit for work or a glamorous dress for going out and sipping cocktails.

The Hepburn Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comThe Hepburn Dress and Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.comBoth patterns come in UK sizes 6-20. The patterns are perfect for someone with intermediate sewing skills, but can also be tackled by a confident beginner. The patterns also come with detailed and illustrated instructions, including additional finishes such as a waiststay or lingerie strap guards.

If you’d like to buy both patterns, you can also get them in a bundle at a discounted price. For more information click on the images above or visit the audrey&me pattern shop page.

Keep your eyes peeled for more! Over the next couple of days and weeks I will be sharing the garments I made using my patterns as well as variations and pattern hacks!

I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Charlie x


Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!