Tasha Sews

Pattern Review: New Look 6346 This is my 3rd #2018MakeNine  garment! I made this New Look skirt before  and absolutely loved it. However, I feel that I'm not able to make the most of the skirt as the UK Summer is not always warm and dry. I knew that I would want a version that I could wear in colder weather.   I used this floral polyester viscose print purchased from  Fabricland . I picked it up in-store when visiting family in Bristol quite a while ago. I think it was around £3.99-£4.50 per metre. It was easy to work with and sew, but I wonder how it will hold up as it has been washed a few times and I have noticed that it is fading slightly.  The buttons were picked out by my partner in Simply Fabrics . I had been struggling to find a navy button that I liked, but Alex said why not go for a mustard colour button? They were a bargin at 5p each and blend in so well with the print. I cut a size 18 - a size up from last time as I wante...

Pattern Review: New Look 6456 This pattern was inspired by the  #makeyourstash challenge ! The aim is to promote sustainable sewing by using fabric that has been in your stash for at least 6 months and is an item that you will enjoy wearing! I have had this lovely piece of cotton in my stash for around 3 years and this challenge finally made me put it to use as a wrap skirt.  I decided to go with New Look 6456  which has also been in my stash for a number of years. I think it cost around $8 CAN at the time and I bought 2 yards. It is quite a light cotton so I lined it with some polyester lining from my stash. Despite having sewed a number of wrap dresses this was my first wrap skirt. I cut the knee length skirt and a size 14. I sewed it up straight out of the envelope. This is a super simple skirt and would suit a beginner and be a great way to try out sewing a buttonhole.  When I first finished this skirt I was slightly unsure about th...

Pattern Review: New Look 6106 Despite not being busy on the blog things have been busy. I purchased an overlocker and went on a one day course to get to get to grips on it. After feeling more confident with using it, I decided to try it out on a linen skirt. All of the inside seams are underlined and overlocked as I wanted a heavy drape on the skirt.  So I must confess that this entire skirt was stolen. I had spied this linen print in my my mum's sewing room when I was back home at the end of June. I sneakily packed it into my suitcase along with this New Look skirt pattern  which I also stole!  Believe it or not this is the first time I have made skirt with pockets. I was really unsure about inserting them at first, but then decided to go with it. Too be honest with the busyness of the print you don't really notice them. I cut a size 16 and the only alteration I made was to take an inch of the top of the waistband as it was a bit thick for my liking....

Pattern Review: New Look 6346 I am getting on well with my Summer Sewing plans! A couple of weeks ago I sewed up this simple midi length skirt pattern - New Look 6346 . Initially this skirt pattern passed me by. Looking at the  pattern envelope  I found the skirt was too wide. However when I saw  Mimi G's version  of the midi skirt I knew that I wanted to try it.  I cut a generous size 16 and sewed this straight out of the envelope. I was worried that the skirt would be too wide but actually I think it is perfect as it is. One thing that I would say is that fabric choice is critical. This would not have worked for me if I had picked a stiffer fabric. I french seamed this as I didn't line it and didn't want the fabric to fray. I didn't have enough fabric to pattern match this, but looking at the photos I don't think that this matters too much.  The fabric is viscose poly cotton blend. I can't remember where I purchased this from bu...

Pattern Review: Simplicity 1370 Who doesn't need a denim mini in their wardrobe? I do have this one here  which I made a couple of years ago. However, a dark blue denim mini was just what I needed. This is Simplicity 1370  and I decided to make the most uninteresting view. I sewed a 16 with no alterations to the fit. I sewed french seams as this skirt pattern is unlined and omitted the waistband. I used bias binding to finish the waist and hem. The only other change was to use an 8" zipper (I find the 7" zippers that they suggest too short), and I used an invisible zipper as I prefer the finish to a lapped zipper. If I were to make this again I would think about adding an inch or two to the length as it is quite short on me.  The fabric is left over from my vintage peplum dress . I bought 3 metres of stretch denim for only €10. It is so easy to sew with, if I am in Paris any time soon I am definitely going to purchase some more for my ever increasi...

Pattern Review: Simplicity 1322 The past month has been busy at work and with a bit of travel. However I am pleased to say that I have been squeezing in a bit of sewing here and there. Some of which has been  Simplicity 1322.   I purchased this pattern during a recent Simplicity sale and decided to make a wearable muslin from some fabric in my stash. Some faithful blog followers may recognise this cotton from my  first ever blog post!   This skirt is a perfect little stash buster as it only uses 80cm of fabric. This cotton print was originally purchased form Fabricland for around £4 per metre and I underlined it with a blue polycotton from my stash, picked up for £1 per metre from good old Brixton Market. Other than the underlining, I didn't really make any changes. I changed the construction order as per the pattern instructions as I used an invisible zipper in the back rather than a lapped zipper. Therefore I sewed the front to the back pieces and th...

Pattern Review: McCall's 3341 Firstly, some breaking news which is that I am currently featured on Pattern Review as their Member in Focus. You can check out my interview here. As promised, here is my second stash busting mini. For this skirt I used McCall's 3341  and went with View E. I have made this before in my pre-blogging days, also to use up a remnant of leftover fabric. This is a simple a-line skirt with darts in the front and back and is a pattern that I stole from my Mum's stash years ago. I cut a size 16 and sewed this straight out of the envelope. The only (lazy) change I made was to omit the waist band. I am trying to demonstrate with my above pose how the skirt is designed to sit just above your natural waist. I always find this quite strange in patterns, as so few RTW clothes have this feature. I'm sure that I have seen a tutorial somewhere (maybe Threads?) on how to lower the waistline of a pattern, but as I was doing some stash-busting/insta...

As you may have read previously, my sewing group held a 1 metre stash busting sew-a-long. I made Simplicity 1884 for the challenge. The sew-a-long inspired me to have another look at the remnants in my stash to see if I could use them for some quick instant gratification projects.  I had (just) enough fabric to create a mini skirt using Mimi G's pencil skirt tutorial . I have made this previously here and it's a definite go-to garment in my wardrobe.  For this simple skirt I used the remnants from Vogue 8827 . This is a ponte knit purchased from good old Simply Fabrics in Brixton, priced at £3 per metre.  As you can see in the photo above the skirt has two side seams, rather than one seam at the back. This is because I didn't have enough fabric to cut this on the fold. The skirt ended up being shorter than I initially planned as I the fabric is a one-way stretch which meant that I was further restricted by the amount of usable fabric.  A...

Pattern Review: Vogue 8711 My sewing group ran a skirt sew-a-long through February and March. I picked an oldie but a goody, Vogue 8711 . I absolutely love this pattern and have made it twice before, once in my blogging lifetime here . You might recognise this fabric from my last tank top  but for those of you not up to speed, this jersey was purchased from Simply Fabrics in Brixton priced at £2 per metre.  I sewed this straight out of the envelope, cutting a size 16. The only minor alteration was that I reduced the waist elastic to ensure that waistband was snug enough.  This fabric is thinner than the jersey that I used for my last skirt so it definitely falls differently. This fabric clings less, which isn't a good or bad thing, just different. I have one other confession to make which is that I didn't trim the seams back enough when sewing this. The lovely Giselle  photographed this for me a couple of weeks ago, but when I looked a...