Blog • Page 7 of 286 • Make It Perfect

.Women’s Hero Vest – a new pattern.

Don’t let the weather dampen your style, layer up in the cooler months with The Women’s Hero Vest. A simple, flattering shape that is easy to wear for all body types, this zip-through vest will keep your core warm without sacrificing style.

The exterior can be made from virtually any fabric – woven or knit, allowing you to create endless styles and with a fleece-lined lining you will stay toasty warm no matter what the weather.

Topped off with a functionally stylish hood and trendy side pockets, the Women’s Hero Vest is an essential layer for the modern wardrobe.
Women's Hero Vest Today I am thrilled to welcome the Women’s Hero Vest to the Make It Perfect pattern collection!

I have to be honest with you…as I started designing this pattern, I wasn’t feeling that enthused. But I had been hounded and hounded over the last year or so by lovers of the kids Hero Vest to produce a women’s version. So much so, that I couldn’t ignore the requests anymore and decided that I’d better listen to the sewers and get creating. And boy, am I glad I did! All that persuading really paid off because I really, really (x 100!) love this vest! Note to self: listen to the sewers more often!

This vest is just so easy to wear and style and will be a great addition to your wardrobe. It works beautifully as an extra layer to wear to the gym or to keep your core warm as you go for a walk or a run, it is a really cute addition to a casual skirt, and of course it looks awesome with your favourite pair of comfy jeans.

When it comes to fabric choices on this one, the sky’s the limit! Wovens or knits both work really well for the exterior and any kind of polar fleece, sherpa, minky or faux fur give the snuggliness you want for the lining. Because the vest is constructed with 2 layers of fabric, if you use a lightweight fabric for the exterior, the bulkiness of a fleece fabric for the lining helps to balance it out and add extra stability. And in case you were wondering, quilting cotton is a great choice for the exterior too! My personal favourite fabric combination to use is flannelette for the exterior and a chunkier fleece-type fabric like sherpa for the lining. The vest shown in these photographs is made using a flannel by Robert Kaufman (part of the Mammoth range) and for the lining, I have used a faux fur sherpa. I have just ordered a few more flannel fabrics and am eagerly waiting for them to arrive so that I can make a few more the same. Such a snuggly weight and extremely soft and cosy.

All of the trims are made using ribbing (also referred to as cuff fabric in some places). Ribbing is so easy to sew into a garment and gives a polished finish instead of hemming. In this case, it also gives you a lot of room to play around with different colours combinations for your vest…go with something contrasting for a fun pop or keep it subtle by matching the ribbing to your exterior fabric.

If you are familiar with the kids Hero Vest pattern, the construction is virtually the same. But for those of you who are Hero Vest gurus out there…if you look closely enough you might notice in these photos that the zipper is completely concealed from the inside of the vest. This technique was recently shared with me by a fellow sewer on the Make It Perfect Sharing Group and if you want to give it a go yourself, stick around and I’ll be sharing a step-by-step photo tutorial on my blog in the next few days. This technique is not difficult, but is definitely a lot more involved than a regular zipper insertion so I felt like it needed a bit more attention.

Before I sign off, I need to thank my beautiful sister Carli for modelling the vest for me. It was pouring with rain and freezing cold and she kept smiling and following my orders through it all! And then I gave her the vest to take home…which really meant a lot because it is my favourite so far!!!

I hope you are as excited about this new pattern as I am! I have plenty more versions to share with you over the next little while and lots of vest inspiration to help you conjure up your next Women’s Hero Vest creation!

In the meantime, you can see and read more about the Women’s Hero Vest in the store and the pattern will be on sale at 20% off until 10pm Saturday 15th August (AEST) – no coupon required!

(Wholesalers wishing to stock this pattern in their stores can contact my distributors here.)

August 13, 2015

Make It Perfect

.Sewing a rope basket.

A few months ago I sewed myself a giant rope basket. Inspired by the talents of people like Soule Mama and Gemma Patford I jumped on the rope vessel sewing bandwagon and ordered 100m of rope online to get me started! The job of this basket is to store my knitting yarn. I have promised myself that my yarn stash will not exceed the size of the basket…well, my promise is almost broken – it’s amazing how strategically you can stack yarn into a big mountain to keep it all in one basket! But really, there is no way that my knitting hobby is going to end up like my sewing hobby. I want to actually use the yarn I purchase, not have it sitting around in boxes and on shelves for years!

I actually did a bit of shopping around locally first but couldn’t find any cotton rope that was sturdy enough for a basket anywhere. In the US it seems that people use a rope referred to as “clothesline rope” – clothesline rope in our hardware stores is a plasticy, nylon material and wouldn’t be suitable for using to sew on the sewing machine. All of the rope in craft stores was more suited to making piping and using for drawstrings – soft and flimsy, so I took my hunting online and ended up purchasing 100m of 8mm cotton sash cord from Sydney Rope Supplies (free postage always wins me over!) I was umming and aahing about which rope thickness to use and went with the 8mm because I guessed it would be thick but not too thick (super technical guesstimation going on!) – turns out it was just a little too thick for my liking. I broke a couple of needles and resorted to using a leather needle which did the job but I still had to sew slowly to make sure the stitches were going all the way through. My zig-zag stitch wasn’t being great either and kept skipping a lot of stitches, but is hardly noticeable as I used white thread and the basket is still really sturdy.

This basket measures approximately 20cm high x 40cm wide at the top and it is pretty massive. It probably took me about 2 hours to sew, I didn’t do it all at once though…way too monotonous! For a basket this size I used about 30m of rope. To finish it off off, I hand-embroidered some detail at random places using some grey pearle 8 thread. This embroidery also helps to hide the cut ends at the beginning and end of the rope.

I’ve still got a lot of rope left, so I’ll use it all up before buying anymore but next time I will try the 6mm rope (which is also a bit cheaper). I think it will be easier for my needle to get through and won’t be as snug under the presser foot as well.

If you are wanting to make a rope basket for yourself, I found this video tutorial by Gemma Patford extremely helpful. It really is very simple, just takes a bit of time. I will definitley be making some more, they are such great storage vessels and I love how you can easily make them any shape or size you like.

August 10, 2015

Make It Perfect, Zip-It

.Zip-It with horses.

I’m the first to admit that Lil has WAY too many clothes. But when you are the only little girl of a Mother who loves to sew, that’s just the way it goes!

We retired her duck Zip-It dress a few months ago (this slow-growing girl gets great milage out of her clothes!) so of course she needed a replacement for the wardrobe.

I really like this horse print fabric from Cotton + Steel and it has been sitting on the shelf for too long. I think the Zip-It dress looks great with a feature print for the main body of the dress. The sleek triangular, a-line shape shows off a favourite print perfectly. For the yoke and bias trim on the dress I paired the feature print with a solid navy scattered with tiny gold dots. It adds a bit of sparkle to the dress.

Zip-It dresses are one of Lil’s favourite to wear. Because it is so cold at the moment they are usually paired up with stockings and a cardigan or long-sleeved top underneath but they are an ideal Summer dress to wear while keeping cool.

Our little girl turned 8 this week – EIGHT! I’m making the most of these little girl, dress-making years because I know they will be over in the blink of an eye!

SUPPLIES: Make It Perfect, Zip-It pattern // Cotton + Steel, Mustang, Horses in Aqua // Dear Stella, Confetti Sparkle, in navy

August 6, 2015

Knitting

.Big Herringbone Cowl.

Big Herringbone Cowl

I recently finished knitting myself another cowl. After the Honey Cowl marathon of the last few years I thought I should branch out and try a new pattern! I am not the most confident knitter but really want to try and improve my knitting abilities so have started a little yarn stash (I promise it will not take over the house…) and am challenging myself with new patterns and yarns.

The pattern I decided to tackle next was the Big Herringbone Cowl pattern from The Purl Bee. The herringbone stitch was fun to do and easy to pick up and this cowl ended up being nice and squishy and bulky. It did take me a few sittings to get used to using the chunky 12mm needles but once I was in a groove the cowl was a really fast knit.

The yarn I used was Milla Mia Naturally Soft Aran in Ochre colourway. I purchased it on a whim when I was stocking up on needles one day because I had a 20% discount voucher to use and wanted to make the most of it. I have used Milla Mia yarn before and knew that the quality would be great – soft and not scratchy. I really love it though, the finished cowl is super snug and keeps me so warm on a cold day.

This cowl is definitely not free of mistakes, there are a few spots that have messy stitches or little holes that I strategically place underneath folds when I wear it. I was *this close* to unpicking the whole thing and starting again after I had blocked it because the mistakes were annoying me so much but decided I would keep it as is and knit another one sometime without any mistakes! I found the herringbone stitch really difficult to rectify mistakes as I went, but I’m sure one day it will click and I’ll be able to fix up my mistakes as I go along. That’s the great thing about a cowl though, you can easily wrap and tuck to hide any messy spots before wearing!

My next knitting project is a 3-Colour Cashmere Cowl…I was about 1/3 of the way through and then the little boys landed on my knitting bag when they were jumping off the couch and snapped one of my needles so I am impatiently waiting for a replacement to arrive in the mail!

July 30, 2015

Make It Perfect, Scout

.Panda Scout Sweatshirt.

Here’s a little Scout sweatshirt I made for my favourite speedy, busy two year old.

And here he is, after stomping and sitting in thawing puddles of ice. Seriously, this kid has no feeling when it comes to water and outside. Yesterday we were visiting a friend and before I knew it I found him standing in the bowl of cat water outside. Nice one Harv.

I think it is safe to say that the “Panda Jumper” is his favourite though. He requests it daily, and points out the pandas to people that we meet.

I really have to hurry up and make Harvey a few more of these Scout sweatshirts. They are perfect for these chilly days, especially made in a warm french terry or sweatshirt fleece.

Let me talk for a minute about the fabric I used. This is a European french terry knit. I know I’ve raved on about Eurpoean knits over and over again, but I’m going to do it again…they are THE BEST! Yes, you are usually paying a little more per metre for them, but the quality is outstanding and once you start using them you will be hooked for life! This french terry is superb…the softest, stretchiest, snuggliest french terry I have ever laid my hands on. I need to get some in a grown-up print to use for myself. Don’t forget that the Scout pattern is 20% off for another 24 hours – sale ends midnight, Saturday 25th July.

SUPPLIES // Make It Perfect, Scout pattern // Andrea Lauren, Blue Panda Sweater Knit // Navy blue ribbing

July 24, 2015

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