Tag Archives: Dear Creatures

Sewing Fail :(

Have you ever make something and it’s just all wrong? I have……..

This is my trusty Grainline Scout Tee. I have made this so many times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), you would think I couldn’t possibly do it wrong! But you would be wrong. As you can see below, the neck band was a bit of a disaster.

This was the left over fabric from my first Colette Laurel dress and I thought this could be another Breton-style top to add to my Plantain tee. I cut it out ages ago and then sewed it just after Christmas (so this, along with my pink pencil skirt, was my last make of 2015). I don’t remember why I cut out the back in 2 pieces – I don’t know if this was on purpose because of a lack of fabric or if it was a mistake!

I carefully sewed french seams for all the seams. I didn’t even realise I hadn’t hemmed the sleeves until I went to take pictures – this was just shoddy all around.

At this point you might be thinking ‘well it doesn’t look that bad’ but there is a reason I am not modelling this tee. It ended up really small and really short! Here is it compared to one of my earlier versions of the Scout Tee – I did make them the same size!

It’s particularly short at the front – no idea why! I think some bad cutting out is to blame….

For an even more hilarious comparison, here is is next to my Dear Creatures Scout. I did make this a size bigger than all the others, but it looks about 3 sizes bigger here. This version feels a little too big in places, so I think what I need to do if/when I make it again is to use the sleeves and armscyes and length of the larger size but the width of the smaller size.

At lease I didn’t waste any expensive fabric or too much time! Have you every had something turn out completely unwearable?

Best Makes of 2015

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So since it’s New Year’s Eve, I thought I’d do the obvious thing of looking back over the last year and seeing what I’ve made and done. This was inspired in part by the Instragram #2015BestNine hashtag.

I’ve made myself 14 garments, which isn’t really that many – I have felt like I haven’t had as much time for sewing as I would have liked.

I particularly like my BHL Victoria Blazer, and definitely feel smarter when I wear it instead of a cardigan. I like my Merchant and Mills denim Dress Shirt, too.

I made a few things with knits, for the first time this year: a Closet Case Files Sallie Maxi Dress; a Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress; and a Breton-style Deer and Doe Plantain Tee.

I have also refashioned 7 things, so I’ve been a bit more productive than a first glance might imply!

My 3 favourite refashions were my ugly skirt to Grainline Scout tee (which I unfortunately shrank in the wash, boo!), my Refashioners Dear Creatures rip-off and, probably the one I’m most proud of, my ugly coat which I remade into a Freemantle Coat.

I’ve made 6 non-clothes things, including my first (pusheen) and second amigurumi (a Minion), and my first scrapbook, for my Dad’s 65th Birthday.

But my very favourite non-clothes thing (and probably favourite out of everything I’ve made) was the felt allotment I made for my friend’s daughter for Christmas 2 (which happens in January so this was made this year). This was one of those things that I saw on A Beautiful Mess and knew I had to make it, and then was super excited to see my friend’s daughter open it! I was almost too excited to wait until the present exchange, and wanted to open it as soon as I arrived for Christmas 2!

This is the anniversary of this blog, too – I had an old one but transferred the content over and focused just on sewing and crafty things (I had previously written about food and books too), and I’ve introduced a couple of new regular posts – style inspiration and fashion history. I’ll continue with these I think, as they help me to cement my personal style and guide me what to make next! I’ve also reviewed some books, events and shops. You can see the archive of all these posts here.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog this year and I hope you’ll come back in 2016. xx

Style Inspiration: Dear Creatures

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Have you heard of Dear Creatures? I think I discovered them via Pinterest (have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? Oh, I have….) They’re ‘About Us’ page says:

“Dear Creatures is a labor of love for founders and husband & wife duo Rob and Bianca Sinclair. Since the day the two first met, they’ve been cultivating each other’s creativity and common love for decades past. Harmonizing traditional elements with a modern sensibility, Dear Creatures offers seasonal collections that spin sentimental tales of whimsy. With an understanding of decades past, Dear Creatures interprets each season with an eye for visual optimism. Dear Creatures looks to the future of fashion, with a nod to the past.”

I love them because a lot of their designs are quite sixties, and if you’ve been reading this blog for a while (or even not very long!), then you’ll know I’m drawn to 60s style clothes, so I thought I’d share my favourites with you. Some of these are from their most recent collection, but others are older so might be unavailable. But I figure most of them can be copied 🙂

This navy blue dress with white detailing is lovely and from their current collection. I like the higher-waisted, almost baby doll style of dress which was popular in the 60s and the detailing stops it being too boring!

I like the style of this dress and the pleating, but I’m not totally sold on the colour. I used to love this shade of blue, but I don’t think it’s really me any more. And I think I suit stronger, bolder colours. But they get points for having a kitty in the picture!

This is from their current season and I really like it. I’m finding myself drawn to maxi dressed this Summer, having never particularly seen the appeal before!

This is another maxi from this season. Needless to say I love the colours (mustard is one of my all time favourite colours at the moment!). I like the contrast between the bodice and the pleated skirt.

This is the last one from this season which I’m posting.I’m not totally sold on the great, but I like the patterned detailing. This looks like a Colette Moneta dress to me. I went through their previous collections and picked out my favourites – you can spot which ones are from the same season by the colour palette and the models!

I think these tops are sweet and I like the collar/ bow detail. I think any basic tee shirt pattern could be altered to have the little cut out and you could probably fairly easily draft a collar like this.

2 similar blouses from the same fabrics. I like the piping down the sides of the button bands and collar. This could maybe be copied using the Colette Violet pattern?

I love the colours of both dresses and the binding on the cut outs matches the skirts! I’m always intrigued by fabric and pattern mixing, but I fear it would look a mess, but these both totally work.I also love these 2 tees. Again, I would think most tee shirt patterns could be made into these. You just need a little lace for the collar. And I think the sleeves are gathered on the shoulder, but I can’t really see properly. (Dear Creatures also make the very skinny jeans) I love these 2 dresses too – another example of great fabric combinations. And again the collar and binding around the cut out is coordinated with the skirt fabric.

These look like really comfy jersey dresses. You could probably fairly easily add the detailing with another colour of jersey. Maybe a Moneta dress with a v-neck instead of round neck? More dresses! I’m totally drawn to their dresses and yet I wear way more separates than dresses! I think I mostly like this one for the colour. Also the button and neck detail reminds me of my Spring for Cotton Dress. This is super sixties – my pattern from the actual 60s has the exact same design detail! I’m definitely a fan of the shift dress, and I love these 2. Again the detailing around the neck looks like my Spring for Cotton Dress. I can’t tell if this is printed fabric with a border print or appliqued detail. I think the former, so if you found a fabric you like, this would probably be easy to copy, maybe using Colette’s Laurel pattern. This might be one of my favourites – I’m a sucker for navy blue and although I’m not normally necessarily drawn to nautical style clothes, I like the sailor vibe of the detailing around the neck. I definitely think eventually, once I stop being scared of sewing with knits, that I could copy some of these dresses and tops.