Holiday stitching - pineapple dress and matching camo t-shirts

I've been quiet this month, not through lack of sewing, but because I've been waiting to get pictures of my latest makes. My last couple of projects have been for our annual October half-term Tenerife trip and I thought it would be nice to get some pics while we were away. We got back last night after a lovely week of sun, sand, lidos, new toys, tapas and relaxing. I also got the photos so I can finally blog about my last few makes. 

The first project was another Shannon dress from Love Sewing magazine. I absolutely love this pattern and have worn my black and grey version loads already. My fabric choice this time was a brilliant pineapple print, also from Girl Charlee at the Handmade Fair. I fell in love with this fabric and bought it on impulse, even though it's totally impractical for autumn/ winter. I decided I would use it to make something for my hols and decided on the Shannon dress because it is so comfortable and so quick to sew. There's not much to say about the construction other than it only takes an evening to sew up on the overlocker. I'm still waiting for my coverpro machine to arrive so I had to finish it on the normal machine but I'm still really pleased with the end result - it's just a shame it's going to be put away until next Summer now!

 

I also bought some camo jersey fabric from Girl Charlee to make a t-shirt for Gareth's birthday. It's not for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to finish it before we went away as I knew I wouldn't have much chance afterwards. I used the men's t-shirt pattern from the GBSB Fashion with Fabric book (from the series before last). I used this pattern to make him a t-shirt ages ago and knew it was a good fit. The best thing about sewing with jersey is how quick it is, and this fabric has a really nice feel. This was another project I could finish in an evening.  I decided to give it to Gareth early so he had a new t-shirt for holiday. 

I had miscalculated how much fabric I needed so ended up with over a metre spare. My sister made the Scout Tee from Grainline studios recently and I fancied making it to, so managed to cut the pattern from the leftover fabric. I liked the instructions and enjoyed sewing this top. However, it is huge! I think I will make the next size down next time and will alter this one as it looks like I'm wearing Gareth's!

Thomas took this picture of us wearing them on holiday (please note - we only wore them at the same time for the photo, we didn't actually go out wearing matching t-shirts!):

 

Rather excitingly, I posted this pic on Instagram while we were away and Girl Charlee included it in their October knit-picks on their blog 

here 

I also received an email update from the brilliant 

SoZo which was a round of Anya bags and included mine. 

It's lovely to be recognised for doing what I love!

Sunday style: T-Shirt dresses

One of the stalls I was most excited about visiting at the Handmade Fair was Girl Charlee fabric. I've read lots of sewing blogs about their beautiful jersey fabric and I had a few projects in mind. One was the Shannon t-shirt dress from the latest issue of Love Sewing magazine. The simplicity of this pattern really appealed - both in terms of the style and ease of sewing!

I wasn't disappointed when I visited the stall - I bought more fabric than I needed and could have bought more than that. The fabric I chose for this project was a black and grey chevron jersey. Although a t-shirt dress could be quite Summery, the darker colours work well with tights and boots for this time of year. 

There are only two main pattern pieces plus bands for the neck and armholes. I used the overlocker for most of the seams. I finished the neck and armholes with a narrow zig zag stitch. This was an optional step, but I found from the Agnes pattern by Tilly and the buttons that it helps the neck band sit better. The best thing about this project was how quick it was - only just over an hour, including the cutting out. 

I had quite a bit of fabric left so decided to make a matching dress for Polly. I looked for a baby t-shirt dress pattern but couldn't find what I wanted anywhere, so ended up drafting my own using one of her tops as a basis for the top and basing the design and shape on the Shannon dress. Apart from the time spent looking for a pattern and then drafting one, this was even quicker than my dress. I used exactly the same techniques to attach the bands at the neck and armholes. 

I'm really pleased with these, especially drafting my own pattern for Polly's. I love using jersey for kids clothing as it's so comfortable and moves well with them, which is great as she's not far off starting to walk. My dress is super comfortable - perfect for going out for Sunday lunch!

Here we are together:

 

And here's my dress:

I've got lots more jersey so will definitely be sewing up several of these!