Welcome to my stop on the Sew Long Summer Blogtour hosted by Melissa of mahlicadesigns, it couldn't have come at a better time for us here in the UK as we've definitely seen a change in the seasons in the past week or two! 

As we say SewLong to Summer, my thoughts are turned to Autumnal sews and keeping the cold, wind and rain at bay whilst being able to remove layers on those days where the weather can't make it's mind up!  (Yesterday we had everything from 23°C bright sunshine to 11°C with thunderstorms and gale force winds!) 

Whilst I've been keeping up to date sewing cardigans, sweaters and hoodies throughout the Summer, I now need to think about heavier, warmer and drier functionality garments so where better to start sewing for Autumn than a coat!? 

Ever since I made my boys their first Elevation Hoodies (click for original blogpost) almost 18 months ago, my Husband has been pestering for one too!  In the beginning I had the excuse that the pattern only came in ages 6-12 months to 16 years, however a few of months ago, the mens version was released which took the available sizes right up to 3XL (up to 57" chest!) so I could no longer use that one! Then I had the excuse of it being Summertime soon so there wouldn't be any need for hoodies for a few months which seemed to pacify him a few more months, THEN, a couple of weeks ago, he saw me looking at this blogpost for a zipper front hack and I really couldn't think of any more excuses so figured it was about time I just made it for him, and what's a good outfit without matching mini versions for the boys? After all, they have both grown significantly since their original ones and could do with some bigger, warmer clothes too.

In my opinion, everybody needs a pair of classic tailored formal occasion or work appropriate pair of trousers in their wardrobe.  There isn't always time to make or buy a pair when needed so having them there, ready in case, seems logical to me!  With that, I introduce you to my newest pair! A pinstripe version make with the new North Point Trousers pattern from Itch to Stitch. Complete with all the necessary features including, single welt back pockets, slanted front pockets, zipper fly and hooks, belt loops and blind hems, they're the perfect pattern in my opinion for the job!

I'm not going to lie, these took a while to make! There are 29 pages to print and assemble (although they're trim pages and line up so well, that it's really not a chore at all!) and then the cutting of the fabric before embarking on a 79 step construction BUT I believe it is totally worth it for the quality, finish and fit of the final trousers. 

This Summer one of my sons broke his arm and needed it cast almost to his shoulder, this made getting tees on and off very tricky.  Inspired by the port access placket of the Pickle Toes Pattern Hope, I added a snap up placket to the shoulders of some of his tees.  I hope you never need it but I've put together a little tutorial for you just in case! A snap placket can either be done on ready made tees or as you are making a new one, this tutorial covers adding one to a new tee and I used the Pickle Toes Patterns Fried Pickles which is FREE with the code from their Facebook Group 

I've been using a lot of prints in my sewing for me and recently even pushing my comfort zone to using prints for trousers as well.  It's been great for my wardrobe in livening and brightening it all up but it created a problem I'd never had before when on several occasions now I realised I was pretty bad at print matching and didn't have many plain coloured or simple styled tops to pair with them and give me multiple ways of wearing each.  

So I'm working on a bit of a 'basics' project to fill the gaps whilst keeping a capsule idea in mind.  Looking at my wardrobe, most of my clothes are in the pink to purple colour range so I need to look at co-ordinating and contrasting colours which fit with those so that each 'basic' I make can be teamed with as many things I've already made as possible.  

With that in mind, I went looking for patterns full of options, patterns which I could make lots from but all be different and very quickly came across the Dublin Dolman pattern by New Horizons. Literally PACKED with options, it was the perfect start!

I'm loving being involved in blog tours at the moment, here is my stop on the first Sewing by Ti tour I've been involved in! I've followed Ti's blog and tours for quite a while now so it's a little nerve wracking to be involved myself this time! Ti's blogtours are all themed but what that means to us is up to our individual interpretation! This tour is themed "Dress up this Town" and my immediate thoughts on that were dresses for occasions, not just for Weddings, Christenings and evenings out but for the lunch dates with your girlfriends, for attending Church, for any occasion where you want something a little more than an everyday casual dress. What I came up with may not surprise those of you who know me and know what a HUGE fan of Itch to Stitch Designs I am, so here we have 3 dresses all from ITS all very suitable for occasion wear when sewn in the right fabrics whilst still working brilliantly as casual everyday dresses in others. PS. make it to the bottom for the great giveaways!

Ever since I made my Husband his football shirt from the Bram raglan pattern, he has been asking for some joggers to go with them, mostly because his legs are much longer than all the store bought ones fit and also because he wanted to be able to get them on and off over his shorts, boots and shin pads.  He practically brought me my machine and fabric when I asked if he liked the style of these from Wardrobe by Me, even when I told him he'd need to model them for release photos and here! So here they are, modelled with his Bram!

Some of you may have already seen these, especially if you read my Suit up for Summer blogpost from last week but I wanted to take a closer look at them and tell you a bit more about them.  So here is an entire post dedicated to these fab  patterns from New Horizons! PS.  Did you see there is a code for 30% off sitewide until the end of the day?! quickkk! 

​I am SO excited to be part of this blog tour celebrating the Bluezette's 2 year anniversary! Released by Love Notions in both Ladies and Girls sizes, this is a dress pattern I've not tried before but have seen so many gorgeous versions of and hadn't realised quite how many variations could be made from the pattern and blog add-on! So many, I couldn't decide on just 1 version to make so made 2!

I've been lusting after this pattern for quite a while, putting it in and out of my cart on the New Horizons website but never truly looking at the details to see just how many options it included and never quite knowing what fabric it was asking to be made in {more on this in tomorrow's blogpost!}  So when the combination of fabric, timing and pattern options fell into place I just had to try it out!  If, like me, you have only been looking at the listing photo of the Telluride with the beautiful faux Henley scooped hood and not checked out all the other options, I urge you to go take a quick look, I bet you'll be as surprised as I was!

I settled on the Henley version with puff short sleeves and bottom hem with this beautiful organic 'Bling Bling' print cotton jersey from Jersey Jollies, it's a 95/5% cotton lycra mix and at 220gsm, just a little lighter than the custom jersey fabrics I've been sewing recently but equally as lovely to sew with.  I washed it at 40 degrees and even tumble dried it and it had so little shrinkage I was very surprised, just 2cm in width and 3cm in length!