A Floral Agnes Dress

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Oh, hello there!

It’s embarrassing how long it took me to write up a post this time! I have to blame a whole new bunch of hobbies for it. I’ve discovered wool spinning and all that comes with it and have spent the last couple months pretty much doing nothing else than handling wool in all shapes and forms. It’s really fun and distracts me from sewing at the moment. I’ve been making all sorts of little projects for the kids in my family, as well. So I’ve been very much involved with all things creative. People ask me all the time how I have the time to do so many things at once and, well, I haven’t. I really have to make time to be able to explore so many creative activities and some things have to get pushed to the bottom of the list. In the last few months it’s been mostly working out (the most likely candidate) and blogging. Preparing a blog post eats up a lot of time and, to be honest, isn’t always the most creative part of the process for me.

Just before discovering the joy of old spindles and raw fibres I finished a couple of really cute outfits which we photographed months ago. One of these was this really lovely jersey dress, which I’ve worn endlessly since then.

pattern: hacked Agnes Top (Tilly and the Buttons), size 10
fabric: 1.5m of printed jersey (gifted)

cost: next to nothing: fabric was gifted, 10cm elastic (1.99€/m), 
matching thread from my stash
duration: ~2 hours

I used the Agnes Top pattern by Tilly and the Buttons and lengthened it into a dress. It’s the third time I made myself an Agnes dress, the other two dresses (here and here) are some of my favourite garments to date. It’s fairly easy to do this freehand. I usually use the Sew Over It Cowl Neck Dress as a base for the skirt part, since I really like the fit and length. As I said, you don’t necessarily need a skirt pattern for this. You could simply drop the hem down to knee-length and curve the side seams a bit following the shape of your thighs. 

An Agnes dress is super comfy, but doesn’t look too slouchy. You can easily dress it up with some heels or dress it down by wearing trainers. It’s also one of my favourite garments to take on holidays, as it’s such an allrounder and fits easily in any bag without creasing. 

I love the feminine shape of the neckline. It’s such a simple, but effective trick to use a short length of elastic to ruche the centre front and turn it from a scoop neck into a pretty v-shape. This technique is included in the pattern booklet and can also be easily applied to other garments. You could also use this trick on other tops you would like to update. Any scoop neck would be perfect for this. The elastic is stitched down with a zigzag stitch, which only takes a minute or two.

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I would really love to get my sewing juices flowing again! I’ve been browsing a bit for new indie sewing patterns and bought a couple Sew Over It dress patterns recently. I would really like to explore other brands as well, since I feel I’ve been missing out on all the latest pattern crazes (Myosotis Dress anyone? I’ve been eyeballing you!).

Do you have any recommendations for patterns and indie pattern designers which I should check out? Please let me know in the comments!

xx

Charlie


Happy sewing!

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A cropped cardigan (Agnes/Coco hack!)

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.comA Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com
A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Dreaming of Spring

Ohhh, how I can’t wait for spring to come! We took these pictures just before Christmas, actually. It did look a bit like spring was coming early this year, but now we’ve had some really long weeks of heavy snow, ice and super low temperatures. Today is the first sunny day in a long time and this reminded me to finally blog this little project.

pattern: self-drafted variation of Coco/Agnes (Tilly & The Buttons)
fabric:jersey with flower print by Königreich der Stoffe 
amount: ~ 1m
cost: 10,99€ (+ zip from my stash, ~4€)
duration: ~2 hr

Yep, this is yet another T&TB Coco/Agnes hack! I love to use both patterns as base for self-drafted garments. For the bodice I used mainly the Agnes pattern, adding to the waist and bust, so I can easily fit a sweatshirt underneath. I used the Coco sleeves and also added a bit of width. I didn’t have a lot of this fabric, and I wanted long sleeves, so I had to crop the bodice to fit all pattern pieces and have enough left for the cuffs and pockets. Initially, I didn’t want it to be this short, but then I found this matching light-blue metal zip in my stash which was too short for the length I had planned. So I cropped the pattern a bit more to fit the zip.

I really don’t mind the shorter length, as I wear sweatshirts underneath, anyway. Also, I now have a perfect cardigan for all my high-waisted skirts and jeans. Hurray!

All in all, this was quite a quick and successful project! Next time, I would probably change the size of the pockets, though. The opening is a bit too narrow and they’re not deep enough to fit my phone. Bummer. So basically, they’re mostly decorative! Well, we learn with every project, right?

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com
A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A Coco/Agnes cropped cardigan by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Oh, Aslan can’t go unmentioned, right? He did a great job modelling alongside me for this shoot, hehe. He’s grown into a massive, crazy ball of fur. I’ve made quite a few Dog Diy projects last year, I wasn’t able to blog yet. So keep your eyes peeled, if you’re interested!

Also, thanks so much for all your lovely comments and appreciation on my last post about making our hobbies way too stressful. I really appreciate the feedback and feel encouraged to write more mental-health related posts, which is amazing as this is my second biggest passion! You guys rock! x

xx

Charlie


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A Glitter Panda Coco Sweater

Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com
Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com
Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

CARMOUFLAGE PANDA

Oh, I love this sweater! It’s one of my favourite makes this winter and – hooray – it’s actually mine to wear and not a gift I made for someone else. I got to keep this baby!

pattern: self-drafted variation of Coco (Tilly & The Buttons)
fabric: fleece-backed sweatshirt by Königreich der Stoffe 
amount: ~ 1m
cost: 14,99€
duration: ~1 hr

Tilly and the Buttons Coco and Agnes patterns turned out to be my pattern base for all sorts of self-drafted sweaters, shirts and sweater dresses. They really come in handy this way. I used the Coco as a base to draft this little sweater. I wanted a very minimalist sweater silhouette to showcase this really cute glitter fabric.

So I made the bodice quite boxy and widened the sleeves a bit more. Apparently, I didn’t account for the fleece-backed sweatshirt fabric having basically zero stretch, so they ended up a bit too tight nonetheless. The knit-look of the fabric tricked me. I really should’ve noticed the missing stretch before cutting, though. But hey – these things still happen even after over 7 years of sewing…

The fabric is brilliant, right? It’s from Königreich der Stoffe, a German online shop (shipping international) I gushed over before. It was quite expensive, but I had a massive gift card to burn that I got for my birthday last year.

The sweater’s been in the wash a couple of times and so far the gold glitter doesn’t come off. It’s super warm and cosy and the fabric breathes well, as it’s a 80% cotton/ 20% poly mix.
I got some really lovely comments whenever I wore it and most people didn’t even notice the panda bears!

Panda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.comPanda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.comPanda Coco Sweater by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Really loving this project! I will wear it as often as I can before it gets too warm.

Do you have any pattern recommendation for our current sweater weather?

xx

Charlie


Happy sewing!

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A Cosy T&TB Coco Jumper

Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com
Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

COSY CHRISTMAS

Hello sewcialists! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Having some time between the holidays I could finally get around to take pictures of quite a few of my recent projects.
This cosy jumper is one of them. I made it as a Christmas gift for my best friend who designed it and picked the fabric herself this year.

The fabric (‘Anemone’ by Albstoffe) is from a German fabric online shop Königreich der Stoffe (Kingdom of Fabrics). I only recently discovered this shop and really love it. They have the most amazing prints and a gorgeous selection of knit fabrics. They ship internationally, so do check them out on you’re next shopping spree!

The fabric was quite expensive (26€/m), an amount I rarely spend on fabrics, but ohhhh, it’s so soft and cosy! It’s worth every penny. Unfortunately, this beauty traded hands just after Christmas Day!

Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

The pattern for this sweater is based on Tilly & The Buttons “Coco” and a sleeve hack from their “Agnes” pattern which I also used for my Star Wars sweater last year. I added cuffs and made it a bit wider at the waist and sleeves. Here I’m wearing it with my Mia Jeans and handmade beanie hat.

I have more and more completely handmade outfits and I’m planning to make more matching separates next year. My To Sew List is full of sweaters, jeans and blouses. If I’m lucky, I get half of that list done! Coco Jumper by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

My Christmas & New Year’s Eve outfits are 100% handmade this year! I look forward to sharing them with you soon. What are your sewing plans for 2018?

xx

Charlie


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Elephant Print Agnes Dress

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

Hey guys, hope you’re all having a fantastic Sunday!

After spending the last couple of weeks mostly sewing for friends and family, I finally could squeeze in a sewing project for myself. I really have to be more selfish with my sewing if I want to keep wearing handmade clothes! I find it really hard to say no to requests and then also I often find myself offering my help. Sounds familiar, anyone? For some reason I can find little joy in sewing for others, especially if there’s no opportunity for a fitting. Putting a lot of work into something not knowing whether it will fit is just not enjoyable to me. (The exception is my nieces, really. Sewing for babies is always fun as fitting is easy and you can just go wild with your fabric choices and use up all your fabric scraps.)

I bought this amazing elephant print jersey on Stoffe.de (myfabrics.co.uk in the UK). I loved the print right away. I wanted to make an Agnes top at first, but had enough fabric left for the dress hack. The last Agnes dress I made has become such a wardrobe staple for me, which can easily be dressed up or down for the occasion, that I had to make another one. It was my husband’s birthday that weekend, and a dress would be much cuter for the party than jeans + top.

As mentioned before, I used the Tilly & The Buttons Agnes Top pattern, which I have sewn and hacked many times before. (Check out my project gallery for all the different versions!) Hacking the top into a dress is really, really simple. I also added 3/4 sleeves and went for the simple scoop neckline, as the print was busy enough.
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

As always, the fit of the Agnes pattern is amazing. As the fabric wasn’t as stretchy as I had hoped, it was a little bit tight at first, but stretched out after the first wear. The Agnes pattern is super versatile and so quick to cut out and sew. I wasn’t really lucky with the first bunch of Tilly patterns (especially from her Love At First Stitch book), as I just couldn’t get them to fit right no matter what I tried. But Agnes really makes up for it!

The pattern is perfect for busy prints like my elephant fabric. Although I used this pattern quite a few times before, all the clothes I made with it look so different, that you can’t really tell it’s the same pattern.

Will there be more Agnes’ in the future? Hell, yeah!Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I’m so happy that spring’s back! The sun is luring me out of the house. Luckily there are enough rainy weekends still, to get some sewing done for the warmer season…

Do you have any recommendations for wardrobe staple patterns? And what are your spring sewing plans?

xx

Charlie


Happy sewing!

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