My attempts at dressmaking are practically none existent, other than some very cute baby dresses made way back and the occasional make for my kids. Simple stuff but simple is a good place to start isn't it? Patterns terrify me and for a long, long, long time I have wanted to make my own clothes. I'm saying this knowing I have said it before but maybe this will be the year. 

This is perhaps the simplest make ever because I cheated. I used this knit jersey from The Textile Centre. 

Melange Check Fleece Backed Wool Jersey in black and white

It's lovely Melange Check Fleece Backed Wool, it feels amazingly soft and snuggly. I bought 1.5 metres and it was a bargain - not least because I got 4 things made from it!! I will get to that...
Originally I thought about making a shawl from a free online tutorial I found but I had doubts about how well it would turn out. Then a kind colleague actually gave me a pattern (she probably realised the tutorial was dubious!) - Simplicity pattern #6573. It sat on top of a pile of craft stuff for quite a while, one of those to get round to making. Over the holidays I did.


I started with the tricky task of cutting out the one pattern piece, which did involve taping two paper sections together because it was one big piece. There was much pinning and then I got to cutting, fairly easy after following the pattern to make sure the fold of the fabric was in the right place. And that was it.

no sew shawl in black and white check worn open

Sure, I could have hemmed the edges but I didn't. Lazy, yes but it works and I have a shawl! Now I did have to make an adjustment... before you think that makes me sound like I know what I'm doing or that I could be a dressmaker...
I am fairly short - about 5'4" - and the front of this thing was really long. Much longer than the back, which would look cool if you were tall but it looked odd on me. Plus because there was so much fabric, I was swimming in it and it wasn't neat. So I cut a bit off the front. And then that was it - a finished shawl.

shawl in black and white check worn wrapped around

And I can fling it about and wear it in so many stylish ways; obviously you can't really tell that by my terrible modelling and the fact I am wearing a baggy knitted jumper. Really though you can style it in loads of ways and if you added a brooch I'm sure that would look really cool.
So I didn't exactly make it the right way but it works and is totally wearable.

no sew shawl in black and white check worn draped and crossed over slightly at the front

Why have I no head in the pictures?! This is why:


This was the best photograph. Clearly I must work on my poses should I actually do some real dressmaking. A dress would look good on a hanger though and unfortunately a shawl does not! Anyway, I love it and will be wearing it lots with the cold weather we've been having. 

Oh those other 3 makes, with the offcut bits, I managed to "make" each of the kids a scarf! AND I didn't have to sew those either! You have to love fabric that curls at the edges rather than fraying.


If you're interested in trying your hand at a different type of craft, I stumbled upon World Crafted with Robert Mahar on Amazon Prime and thought I would share in case you are looking for something to watch. I enjoyed the short series of easy to digest DIYs, learning about different techniques and cultural traditions. Also Robert is nice to listen to and it sparked some ideas for me!

https://amzn.to/2t9Atgv

Yeah for trying something different!