Tasha Sews

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...

All in all I would consider 2014 a sewing success. I made a total of 27 garments. This is way more than the 12 that I was aiming for so I am super chuffed. Anyhow, lets have a look at the hits and misses. You can click on the pattern name to go to the original blog post. Best/Most Worn Kwik Sew 3844 This pattern featured on my most worn list last year but I do wear this iteration so often I had to include it again. I reach for this when I have to go out and don't fancy wearing a skirt or dress and have to pair something with jeans. I also love that I popped this tank together from scraps in my stash.  New Look 6049 Although this version still needs some tweaking I wear this so often. A great garment that works in all seasons, (it looks fab with boots and tights) and I can wear it casual, more dressy with heels on a night out and even to work. Plus, I love the fabric that I snapped up in Malaysia. Butterick 5454 I love this dress. The colourful fabr...

Pattern Review: McCalls 6744 Do you ever have one of those projects where everything seems to go wrong from the start? This was McCalls 6744 for me. I originally was going to sew up view C with the long skirt but you can see that this didn't happen.  Firstly I cut the the skirt out incorrectly, cutting two left sides. As the shapes are similar I figured it would be salvageable. That was before I inadvertently thought that one of the skirt pieces was a scrap and cut into it as a tester piece, so I had to trim down the other skirt pieces. Somehow I managed to cut the most uneven hem, and as it was so short already I couldn't re-cut it.  Seriously? I have no idea what was wrong with me. Part of me wants to use the excuse that I was recovering from a tummy bug when I was sewing this, but I know that alot of these mistakes were down to my sillyness. I am just glad that I managed to salvage it in the end.  Anyway enough of me being an idiot, let's ...

Pattern Review: Vogue 8870 That's right, my December Garment of the Month is a summer dress. As I will be spending the festive season in Melbourne I have been rapidly expanding my warm weather wardrobe and could not pass up the opportunity to whip up Vogue 8870 . As soon as I snapped up this ITY knit from Windmil Fabric in Boston, USA, I knew that it would be destined for this pattern. The fabric only cost $4.98 USD per yard. It washed fine and sewed up really easily. ITY knits are so comfy and this dress is a dream to wear. I cut a medium and combined the bodice from view B with the skirt from view A. I cut the back skirt piece on the fold and apart from sewing generous seams on the bodice and using less elastic on the bodice back I sewed this straight out of the envelope. The fit was pretty spot on. I do love Vogue Patterns as I find their fit pretty consistent. Vogue patterns are the ones that always require the least amount of alterations for me.  ...

Pattern Review: Butterick 5355 Greetings from sunny Melbourne! It has been a while since I last posted I have been busy undertaking some summer sewing for a work trip to Cape Town followed by a holiday in Melbourne. I finished Butterick 5355 back in October and have only gotten round to photographing it as it has been so cold in London.  The weather in Melbourne is warm but very changeable. I have heard the saying that you get all seasons in one day and it is so true. When I put on this top this morning I was wearing boots! Anyway less about the climate and more about the top.  The pattern is rated easy and I do agree, however I would say that my fabric choice made this a bit harder. I picked up this pretty chiffon from the man outside Sainsbury's in Walthamstow. Priced at £2 per metre it was a bargain! I cut medium and sewed this straight out the envelope making no alterations. If I were to make this again I would narrow the neckline as it does gi...

Pattern Review: McCalls 6489 and #MMMPR! It looks as though I am catching onto sewing my monthly garments along with the themes. For this month I picked out this very Autumnal/Winter fabric from my stash and paired it with McCalls 6489  (now OOP). It was also my first garment worn for Me Made Mondays for the rest of 2014. Let's start with the fabric. I purchased this jersey in the Summer from A1 Fabrics on Goldhawk Road priced at £4.50 per metre. The thing I liked most at the time is how textured it is. The black bits are almost velvet-like in feel and the fabric is dotted with sparkles. The different textures did confuse my sewing machine a tad when it came to tension, but hey, it was worth it.  I have had McCalls 6489 in my stash for a while, but finally got around to using it. It is not a hard pattern, although for some reason cowls always stump me. I am sure that this is nothing to do with the pattern, but just how my brain is tested when seeing 2D instr...

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...