Uncategorized – ooobop

August 25, 2021

Theres a lot to love about a Libby Shirt

I’ve already had people ask if the fabric I used for this shirt was leftover from my latest sheath dress. I’m clearly set in my colour palette ways!

It isn’t, but its a close contender I found it on a pile of Ankara bundles when I was looking for pyjama fabric. And was pleasantly surprised by the light-weightness of it and of the lovely sheen. The shop owner told me it was cotton satin – I didn’t realise that Ankara prints came in any other weight other than the usual medium/heavy structured cotton. Definitely keeping eyes peeled now for different kinds.

And I did have a plan for a lovely lightweight pair of pjs until I saw all the lovely Libby shirts on Insta and that instantly changed things up. I bought, downloaded the pdf pattern, printed and cracked on with tiling the pages together that same evening.

I’ve only ever made one Sew Over It pattern before – the Joan dress – which Im still in love with. If only I could squeeze myself back into it… It was a tough enough wiggle from the outset!

And because of that, I made sure I was being totally realistic about my choice of size this time. Yes I have been known to cheat myself! But to be fair, it does state on the instruction booklet that “Sew Over It patterns tend to have less ease than other patterns as most of the designs are intended to have a closer fit.”

This time ironically it appears I’ve erred on the bigger size! But it really doesn’t matter as it’s so lovely and cool to wear on a humid day. No touching underarm seams and a slight blouson back which really keeps it all nice and airy.

There was nothing complicated about the construction. Though I took time to make sure all the little circles and notches were clearly marked on my fabric pieces. Especially as far as the collar pieces were concerned. And they fitted together a real treat. The fabric pressed nice and sharp too as you’d expect from a quality cotton and a bit of hot steam. And I marvelled at the results. for some time before carrying on with the rest!

I had just about enough fabric to make this shirt and not an iota of thought was given to pattern matching. It would have been very difficult in any case with the design being so random and all. It was looking to be a nasty mismatch at the centre front with the half circle meeting the full circle but I think I’ve got round that by disturbing the design with some black button holes and buttons. I’ll just keep telling myself that!

I cut the longer length version so that I could make up my mind if the cropped length was going to suit me or not. Before I hemmed, I tried it on and cropped was definitely the way forward so I just overlaid the front pattern piece onto the shirt and trimmed to the line. I did however go back to check If there was one back piece for both versions as I wasn’t sure if it was quite right for the back to stay longer. There isn’t and it doesn’t matter. I’d just assumed the back would be cropped too.

I love how the finishes are considered in the instructions for each seam. It comes together so neatly that you are prompted to stand back and admire your progress at each stage. The cuffs in particular are a great way to bind the sleeve hems. And the facings do a great job of housing the overlocked hemline at the centre fronts too.

I would definitely make this shirt again, perhaps in a slightly more draping fabric next time. Maybe a viscose or liquid-like silk satin for a posher version!

I love the style of this shirt, the cropped length option and the cut-on sleeves. Such a timeless vintage vibe. And a very easy fit.

All I’ve got to do is make some bottoms to wear with them, haha. I’m forever in need of simple black skirts or shorts but I just can’t bear to make something that boring. Needs must though!

Photography by Daniel James Photographic

Thanks to Dan for taking these shots under really difficult circumstances. Nagging wife and failing light is never a winning combination. But I love them!

August 9, 2020

Monochrome tartan handcherchief hem dress

There was a time when I’d have not been quite so descriptive about a dress. I’d have said, ‘you know, that black and white one’!

But it’s got more complicated these days. I’m more invested. And more proud. And more hell-bent on everything I make being as considered and as much ‘me’ as possible. So every detail counts!

This self-drafted style is the same as the last one I made in a striped crinkle cotton linen gauze and I knew it would work so much more interestingly with a tartan because of the drama of the drape at the sides.

It’s so satisfying to use a pattern that you know works and fits. Especially when time is so precious right now. Though I’ve been a bit naughty by not transferring my notes to my digital pattern yet – I just used the last scruffy print-out with the adjustments already made.

Note to self: make those bloody changes to the digital version before you loose/damage the paper pattern and you’re left wondering why the third version fits so badly!

It’s so true what they say about keeping notes on or with your pattern pieces. However marvellous you think your memory is you will undoubtedly forget the changes you made last time!

The double French darts played an important part in the design – they allowed the checks to travel undisturbed down the front bodice through the front skirt.

And with all the action at the sides of the dress the mismatched checks look more intentional than ever!

But behold the joy of invisible zip wins when the check matches either side!

Mitred corners on the hem were once again an important decision as the underside of the skirt shows mostly at the sides. They eliminate the bulk of the overlay and look so bloody neat that I want everyone to see them!

The fabric is not really thirty-something degree appropriate (yes, you read that right, 34° in the UK yesterday!). It’s a polyester viscose twill from one of the shops in the Goldhawk Road but I chose it for the drape and the checks with more of an autumnal or winter vibe in mind – layered with a jacket and worn with boots and tights. That said, I don’t know that I can wait that long to wear it again, so I might accessorise it further with a sunhat and a fan, if these tropical temps keep on coming!

Sewing has definitely slowed due to aforementioned sunshine. Not least of all because it’s such a lovely distraction and makes me want to be out in it, but also because it’s so go dammed hot in my house and it’s impossible to focus. The need for air con is nigh! How are you all coping?

April 12, 2020

Perfecting the self-drafted shift dress

Happy Easter everyone!

With my smalls all grown up and my grandsmalls out of reach (care of covid), Easter Sunday provided some respite from work so I could find time to pick up on a WIP that’s been waiting in the wings for so long I’d almost lost interest!

But it’s THIS fabric that’s keeping me going. The delightful D&G piece of art I scored at The Stitch Festival 2020 in February. Gosh… those were the days. When you could go out willy nilly, meet up with your mates and hang out in fabric stall paradise…

Dolce and Gabbana fabric at M Rosenberg's stall — Dolce and Gabbana fabric at M Rosenberg’s stall

I bought it without a plan – rookie mistake number one – but to be fair, I can only see one road to realisation with this digital masterpiece. A simple shift dress.

The design of the fabric sings so loud I want as little disturbance to the design as possible so I set about drafting a perfectly fitting shift to do it justice. There’s not a chance in hell that I will rehearse it in the fabric itself and the closest I had in stash was some very graphic stretch upholstery fabric, gifted by my lovely milliner friend Jayne. It was quite a big bolt and even after I tested (rather badly) a self-drafted pattern and documented the whole film-noir experience , I still have masses left!

Very interesting, looking back, to see that I’ve got pretty much the same issues… with the back bodice. Different set of circumstances though. In that last attempt I had a zip up the back and I’ve since learned how to do a sway back adjustment to get rid of the ripples.

But… because I like making life difficult for myself. Oh and because I don’t want to separate the back piece with a centre seam, the back in this instance is cut on the fold, and the zipper is (in true vintage styleee) at side left.

So I had to sacrifice the back contouring and add it to the back diamond darts instead. I considered nicking some from the side seam too but thought I’d await the results first. Proof is in the pudding, right?

Well it’s no surprise. I have pooling. Bloody bain of my life! So predictable that it’s boring now. There must be a way of doing the same adjustment to a back piece cut on the fold. Do you think? Please let me know if you have any experience with this. I will love you forever!

In the meantime. The easy adjustments to be made are to get rid of that horrid funnel neck thing I created. That’ll teach me for avoiding a full-on facing piece – lazy bones loser that I am! A classic boatneck it will be. And to shave some more off that front armhole with a little off the edge of the shoulder. Also perhaps to increase the length a bit. I do like short skirts but if I lengthen it I think I’ll get more of the design in too!

One more test and I think I might be there. We’ll worry about placement in the next post, lol!

November 16, 2018

Vintage Vogue 2934 jacket revisited

I first made this Vintage Vogue jacket and blogged it back in 2013 (see here) but somehow, sometime soon after, I managed to loose it! It’s still a total mystery. Quite possibly a drunken misplacement and if that was the case I’m so annoyed at myself. I hope sincerely that someone found it and loved it as much as I did.

But hey, the advantage of being a crazy sewing lady is that one can whip up another at will, right?

The pattern is a reprint of Vintage Vogue 1950s cape-like jacket.

It’s a great pattern and comes together really swiftly. Two backs (for a centre back seam) and two fronts with cut-on dolman sleeves and clever neckline darts that create a superbly structured stand up ‘collar’. There’s quite a lot of hand stitching inside but I actually enjoyed that bit. Not just because I took it to the park one sunny afternoon to finish off!

It helped of course that the fabric I chose – a remarkably cheap flocked, brocade-type of furnishing weight fabric from Dave the Drapers in Shepherds Bush Market – had the right amount of structure to hold that shape, but I was a bit worried throughout the process that there wasn’t quite enough drape for the swing back.

And there wasn’t really. It stuck out like a comedy shark fin! I should have taken a side view photo to prove that I wasn’t being a drama queen but I was so fixated on solving the problem and not throwing in the towel and instead of grabbing the camera, I grabbed my purse and dashed to the nearest charity shop in search of a weighty chain.

After all, that’s what Chanel did, right?

To be fair I’m sure House of Chanel has a special kind of chain and rules on how to sew it in – anybody know? I just stitched every other link with a couple of stitches for security and hey presto, it worked a treat!

Incidentally that picture above also shows the detail of the lining I bought from Oxfam. It was totally biding its stay in my stash for this immensely appropriate pairing!

As with anything you make twice, it’s always good to change things up a little. I felt the black frog fastenings I chose last time sunk shamefully into the fabric so I went for a contrasting gold set and matching metallic braid to edge the cuffs, second time round.

It was the best choice! This jacket is so much fun. I love the textures, the overall shape and the slightly bonkers nod to a Christmas drummer boy! I’m not saving it for best and I’m definitely not letting it out of my sight!

July 16, 2017August 30, 2019

Winners of the GBSB Live tickets and a discount code!

For all those who have been avidly watching their screens today, I must apologise. I totally meant to announce the winners this morning and then I got sucked into a festival and just arrived home, late and beat! So in a not very fancy way – no funky movies or drumrolls – comments have been cut into strips, folded and drawn from a colander, at random by Daniel.

Without further ado, the winners are: Shelley, Anne, Andrea, Fraggle and Beth (see comment strips below)

Congratulations! You have each won a pair of tickets to the event. I will pass on your Email details to the organiser and she will inform you of how your tickets will be sent.

Thank you to all who participated. For those of you who are still looking to go to GBSB Live 2017, I have a little compensatory code for you that will give you £1.50 off the regular ticket price for advanced sales. Click on this link to purchase your ticket and just type in the code: OBD where instructed, in the box at the top.

It’s just all too exciting. Hope to see some of you there!

June 28, 2015

On being bothered!

It’s been an eventful few days. Asides from the usual back to back workload, there was Holly Johnson on Thursday, Fleetwood Mac on Friday and a whole sunny day with the children at Pools on the Park in Richmond on Saturday.

I was therefore a little jaded last night. Like a hologram, in fact. a pink frazzled sleepy hologram! I wanted to sew. But the pattern I wanted to sew, typically wasn’t in my size, let alone relative to my proportions. I knew it needed some grading and it pained me to think I had to put some effort in before I could just sit and sew. I made another cup of tea. Did the washing up. Put a laundry load on. Flicked through Facebook. Made another cup of tea. I certainly could have graded and cut out the damned thing instead of doing all that, and by that time it was 9.30pm.

So I got cross with myself and my refusal to do what I’d arranged with myself to do. And set about it. The punishment being that if I fannied around anymore and didn’t put my mind to what was needed to be done I’d just lose more sleep-time. And I was tired, I can tell you!

So with the infamous Nike strapline loud and clear in my head, two back-to-back episodes of Eastenders lined up on iplayer, I got tracing and marking and cutting like a good’un. The bodice needed one set of grading, the skirt section another. And the darts needed redrawing and repositioning. I don’t know that I’ve ever employed the cut-and-spread method of grading so properly before. I’ve thought about doing it but it always seems like so much work. It really isn’t! No more winging it with adding a bit here and a bit there on the side seams!

It’s a shirt dress by the way. Simplicity 6772 from the 1960s. I’m making version 3, the blue one on the right. Not my usual style of shirt-waist dress like the ones I made previously: the 1940s shirt dress and the shirt dress revisited, but a more casual, straight like shirt dress that buttons all the way down. I will skip those bound buttonholes though. The fabric is a suiting fabric, a lightweight wool-blend, confirmed by a burn test that revealed a crumbly kind of ash, signifying more poly than wool! So it doesn’t deserve such couture details. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve done the hockey run, put another wash-load on, seen my daughter off to the Park Club and had lunch with my son. Mr O is on his way to a wedding gig and I kid you not, I just actually heard a pin drop!

So now the pieces are cut out, darts marked and pinned and I’m now about to embark on the part I love the most. And fingers crossed, will be so pleased that I bothered to grade those pattern pieces. If it does work out good I will no longer have to miss out on those fabulous vintage pattern bids for being the wrong size.

I won’t tempt fate. In fact I won’t waffle on any more as I now have a couple of hours of very valuable sewing time on my hands. Just have to avoid the distraction of the sun. Repeat. Just have to avoid the distraction of the sun!!

November 8, 2014June 13, 2015

UK v Germany: A Burda-off! PLUS a tiny feature

I’ve been an avid collector of Burda Style Magazines for three years or more. It’s my monthly inspirational treat and over the years the collection has become my now go-to library for instant pattern pieces and reference. I just love a sit down with a cuppa and a mag and a pile of Burdas at my feet. A perfect way to unwind, recharge and replace my head-soup with a wishlist of sewing plans.

Before ooobop ever was an idea, I used to drool over the projects on Burdastyle.com, wishing I hadn’t given up sewing; jealous of all the lovely contributors and the time they’d dedicated to create such amazing garments. (At the same time, wondering how the heck they found time to maintain such a hobby around work and ‘smalls’.) Then one day I could stand it no longer. I bit the bullet, signed up and submitted my first project in July 2010. I was so proud of that little jump dress. Even moreso that I made the pattern myself. It still hangs in my daughter’s wardrobe. I’d like to believe she is proud of it too and that it’s not just a case of pre-empting a breakdown if mummy sees it in the bin!

The realisation that I could make clothes that created joy for me and my daughter at an outlay of 75p was encouragement enough to carry on. I have to be honest and declare that the outlay has increased somewhat over the years but then so has my confidence and ability. And it is really so wonderful taking some time out today to look back at where I started and how things have moved on. And how I did find time.

There have been a few proud moments along the way where individual projects have been featured on the site but recently I got an Email from an editor of the German printed Burdastyle magazine who asked if she could feature this skirt and my shorts in the November issue. I have to be honest, I thought it was a spam Email at first so I didn’t reply straight away. But then I checked out the links and a little chuffed warm-glow filled my boots! Of course, I would be most incredibly delighted and honoured! Transpires they couldn’t feature the skirt because I’d self-drafted it but I submitted a photo of the shorts and here it is on the printed page!

When the magazine arrived in the post I was more distracted by the quality of the magazine and quite forgot that I was in it! The German version is so much more glamorous. It is ‘perfect-bound’ as opposed to ‘saddle-stitched’. Those are the proper publishing terms but in lay-person terms that means that the German one feels more posh as it has feels more substantial and has a spine like all the high end glossy fashion mags. More substantial because there are more pages and because the pattern section is separately bound inside with it’s own cover. Saddle-stitched meaning stapled!

This pattern section is perforated so that presumably, you can remove and keep it separately. There are images on the inside front and back cover of that section so you would have reference of the finished garments but personally I like the full page fashion shots to fire me up and therefore I would have a need to keep the two together.

Overall, the content is the same. The fashion shots identical. Though I bet the instructions are clearer in the Mütter tongue! Some of those translated terms in the UK edition have me head-scratching and reading ten times over before I’ve got whats going on. But there are additional features on accessories and a few full page glossy ads which ironically enough give it more of an upmarket feel. That’s not a hint by the way, Burda! You’ll not sell me anything via an ad in a mag!

I’m pre-empting some comments regarding my absence from Burda reviews of late, so I’ll apologise up front. I’m considering a return but need to find a quicker way. It takes so much time. That time I’ve since allocated to actual sewing but I have selfishly realised how much I rely on my own reviews when it comes to planning my next makes – far quicker and easier to track back a blog post on the hop than to wait for an opportune ‘sit-down with a mag moment’! So don’t hold your breath. I’m planning a return.

However, I shall leave you with some of November’s shots in case you didn’t get hold of a copy. See. I just can’t resist!!

Happy Bonfire Night, peeps. I’m off to watch the fire in the sky… in the rain! Keep safe.

Love ooobop x