File Buz

Thanks everyone who commented on my recent blog post about organic cotton. It was fantastic to read so many thoughts and perspectives on the topic. Now that my little girl isnt so tiny, Im getting more sleep and feeling generally a bit less brain dead. It feels great to get back to discussing some of the wider subjects around sewing that I feel are so important. 

As I mentioned in the Thoughts on Organic Cotton blog post, I have been lucky enough to have received a few different pieces of organic cotton to sew with and review. The first piece I was sent was this maroon jersey from Only Organic Fabric Store, which is based in France and sells only GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified fabric. I chose to make the type of garment that would test it to the max: toddler leggings! Only a crazy toddler could put them through the most rigorous trials of performance and repeated laundering! Luckily I know one such crazy toddler...

Having now made more pairs of Playful Kitty leggings than I care to remember, I was looking for a pattern that would be a bit more interesting to make, but equally practical to wear and match with other garments. Having a nose through my stash of childrens wear Ottobre magazines, I found the Green Lines Leggings pattern (pictured below) from Ottobre magazine issue 1/2014. 

They have the same general snug silhouette of the Playful Kitty ones, but with some added ruching on both side of the front leg piece. The blurb in the magazine spoke of how this ruching allows for increased movement for the crawling baby/scampering toddler (depending on who youre making them for). Im not sure if thats really true, but I thought it gave an interesting look to an otherwise pretty plain style of garment. 

To accommodate the ruching, the front leg pattern piece is significantly longer than the back (see above). You create the ruching by applying elastic between two points with the seam allowance of both leg seams before you stitch the front and back leg pieces together. I was concerned that this might create uncomfortable leg seams, particularly because I used regular elastic (albeit very thin) rather than the clear elastic that the pattern suggests, but after the elastic gets covered by the overlocking of the leg seams, it felt fine and Dolores has never expressed any annoyance whilst wearing them. 

I blended sizes, using the size 74 for width and size 80 (plus 1cm) for the length as Dolores is a bit of a thinifer. This turned out to be the perfect size combo and Ill definitely employ this ratio again, perhaps with the same pattern by tracing the next batch of sizes up.

Having made these leggings a few months ago, they have seen A LOT of wear and A LOT of laundering. Dolores really has given them a beating and they are still going strong. The fabric has held up extremely well, with virtually no fading, no pilling, no thinning on the knees, or any other real visible signs of wear. I didnt have very high hopes of such a fine jersey, but I am genuinely impressed. When Dolores is no longer small enough for me to squeeze a pair of leggings out of second hand T-shirts, Ill be tempted to splash out on some of their grey marl jersey for leggings making purposes. 

If you want to learn more about both GOTS certified fabric and the Only Organic Fabric Store, the owner Stephanie discusses both at length in a really interesting interview with Toxic Free Talk Radio here. I couldnt get the audio to work very well on my laptop but you can also read the transcript of their conversation. For me, it shed a lot of light on what goes into identifying a product as organic, which in turn explains why truly organic cotton is so much more expensive than regular cotton. 

After the success of the maroon pair, and after all the faff that goes with tracing pattern pieces and adding seam allowances, I wanted to make another! I used some navy and white striped jersey that the very awesome Jenna kindly sent me. I hoped that the stripes would give a cool visual effect with the ruching, but I think these stripes are a bit too narrow for that and they kind of hid rather than highlighted the ruched effect. They have been a fabulous and useful garment though which have also seen A LOT of wear. Interestingly, this almost-definately-not-organic-cotton striped pair ended up showing many more signs of wear and laundering than the maroon pair and actually developed a few tiny holes in the bum after a while! 

These have been great garments and Im definitely going to make more in bigger sizes. I have been thoroughly impressed by the organic jersey and am excited to share with you the other garment I made from it in another blog post in the near future. The striped pair (which have now been decommissioned), although not surviving the crazy toddler test quite as well, did themselves proud too. Regarding the results from this unscientific test, it could be argued that the organic cotton, although more expensive on the outset, might not be so expensive after all when you consider that the final garment may well last longer than using a cheaper, non-organic cotton fabric to sew from.    

Heres a cute dress thats been waiting in the wings to be blogged about. Im pleased with it for lots of reasons, which is a relief because making garments that require you to trace the pattern pieces first takes a level of effort that isnt always easy to come by! 

The Autumn 4/2013 edition of Ottobre magazine (pictured above) is one of about three that I own that have now justified their price several times over. Ive already used several of the patterns from this edition and have ear-marked more for when Dolores grows into the next size range. 

So what did I use from it this time? I was for looking something to make from some lovely organic printed jersey that Id been sent (more on that in a bit). I delved into my expansive Kiddie Clothes Making Pinterest board for inspiration and found this dress pin (from a pattern by Too Sweets patterns on Etsy). Its kind of like a set-in sleeve version of the Field Trip dress I made, but with a more A-line shape. So I started hunting through my Ottobres looking for a basic T-shirt pattern to adapt when I came across the Circus Horse dress (pictured below) from the aforementioned Autumn 4/2013 edition. It has almost the exact silhouette that I was looking for, however it has raglan rather than set-in sleeves. Instead of faffing about adapting another pattern, I decided to go with the Circus Horse dress instead. 

I made the smallest size (92) which is currently one or two sizes too big for Dolores, but as Ive said many times, Im pleased to have garments for her in the bank. Im not sure when shell get to wear it exactly, but Im hopeful that itll have a pretty long lifespan. I also added 2cms to the length as she tends to be a bit skinnier than the Ottobre patterns are designed for. Im hoping that when it no longer works as a dress, that itll become a tunic to be worn with leggings. 

It was pretty simple to put together, although I complicated things slightly by adding some red jersey piping to emphasise the raglan sleeve seams and break up the print a bit. I used my twin needle on the neck binding and cuff binding, and they look pretty profesh if I say so myself (from the outside at least!). 

Back in March-ish time, I was contacted by myfabrics.co.uk who offered me a choice of free fabric to sew with and review. I took it as an opportunity to further my investigations into organic cotton: to find out what is available out there for home sewers and what it is like to sew with. They had a few organic options on their site, mostly solid coloured jerseys and two novelty printed options. I requested some of the printed stuff as it looked really fun, and they kindly sent it to me (and have been incredibly patient with me and my much-delayed review).

When I received the fabric, I was immediately taken with the softness and handle, but a bit disappointed with the colours of the print. In the flesh they werent as vibrant as the thumbnail on the site. I cant link to it because it is not currently available, although they have many MANY other amazing non-organic novelty printed jerseys currently in stock. WHY ARENT THE ANCHOR DESIGNS PRINTED ON ORGANIC COTTON?! Riddle me that. 

As far as I can tell from a garment that is yet to be in regular rotation, this seems to be a real success. I love the pattern AND the fabric, and I guess its in the eye of the beholder as to whether they are a good pairing. I definitely plan to use the pattern pieces again, and maybe make 3/4 length or short sleeved versions as well in lighter-weight knit. 

And when my stash has run dry of knit, and if the charity shops arent turning out viable garments to harvest it from, Ill definitely consider buying organic jersey/knit fabric in the future. Although Ill make sure it has the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification so conforms with standards at every stage of manufacture.  

The last few months have been really productive for me, sewing-wise. Ive been making time to sew almost everyday, as Ive figured out that I really need to do so for the benefits on my mental health. But with all the Me-Made-May15 documentation posts and the celebration giveaways recently, I have ended up with a bit of a backlog of projects to share with you, all along with other stuff I want to post about. So I better get on with it... 

Heres a top that you would have seen briefly if youd read my Thoughts on Organic Cotton post. Its the second garment that I squeezed out of the metre of maroon organic jersey that was sent to me by Only Organic Fabric Shop (the first being a pair of ruched leggings). 

The childrens wear editions of the Ottobre magazines are so awesome for knit patterns. This is the Autumn Forest jersey top pattern from the 4/2014 edition of Ottobre magazine, and although the version photographed in the magazine was made in all the one print, it is ripe for contrast details. I think this pattern could be made in so many different ways, and end up looking totally different each time, which is one of the things I look for when deciding which pattern I can be arsed to trace out. Plus, with this specific pattern you could easily shorten the sleeves or lengthen it into a dress. 

The other reason why I decided to try this pattern was that the silhouette looked pretty skinny, as is Dolores. Recently Ive started combining sizes on garments for her as a matter of course, using one size for the width and the next size up for the length. But I went for the straight Size 86 (the smallest for this pattern) as it already seemed to reflect her proportions. Perhaps the line drawing (pictured below) is meant to represent the larger sizes which are graded to get considerably longer but not much wider than the smallest, or perhaps the drawing is just not that accurate, as the finished garment (see the picture at the top of the post) is not as skinny as the drawing suggested it would be. Im sure itll fine though, its the same proportions as most of the secondhand, shop-bought long sleeved T-shirts she already owns anyway. 

Im also a tiny bit disappointed that the gathered front section isnt as gathered as the drawing indicates it would be. I may slash and flare the pattern out for a bit more fullness for next time. Alternatively, I may concentrate the gathering into a smaller distance so it ends up a bit of a bolder feature.  

This top is still too big for her really, right now shes more of a Size 80. I just wanted to try it on her and get some pictures, and I think that including some modelled photos in a blog post where possible is always more fun. 

As previously mentioned, the maroon cotton jersey was given to me to review, and I did so pretty thoroughly in the ruched leggings post. I deliberately made a garment that could be worn immediately (the leggings) so I could find out quickly how this fabric copes with multiple wearings and washes, and another garment that is too big to have in the bank. This cotton jersey is beautifully soft and fine, a great fabric for making childrens wear from. 

The contrast anchor fabric that I used for the yoke and sleeves bindings came from a vintage 70s T-shirt that was too small for me to wear as it was. If its looking familiar to you thats because I harvested some of it a few years ago to make my Mariner T-shirt. I guess it is inevitable that children are dressed in their parents style, until they are big enough to assert their own will on the matter! I think that, until kids do start to express an opinion about their clothing, all you can do is try to consider the personality and usual activities of the child you are sewing for, and just have fun with it. Initially, I planned on using a delicate stretch lace overlay for the yoke section of this top, then I remembered who I was sewing for and decided that would not reflect the personality of my crazy little girl! 

I can definitely see myself making this pattern again, however I wont attach the neck binding as I have done here. I tried to cut corners by simply overlocking a folded strip of fabric to the neckline, as I would with a womens garment, but when the curve of the neck hole is so tight it clearly doesnt sit very well, despite pressing the hell out of it. Ive learnt from that mistake and next time I will apply the neck binding over the raw edge, not just to the raw edge, as the instructions suggested in the first place!

If it bothered me a touch more, Id unpick it and use the other method. But for a childs jersey top that is going to get trashed at some point, I think Ill just chalk it up to experience. Despite the couple of grievances I have with this pattern, as discussed above, Ill definitely have at least one more whirl at it  some point. I feel it has so much potential to be a great alternative-T-shirt pattern. And as for the fabric, once again it was a joy to sew with, and hopefully will be lovely for her to wear, although I may never get a considered review from the model herself!