Friday, March 16, 2018
Ministry of Craft
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Friday, March 16, 2018
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MINISTRY MAKES WINNER - COLETTE
Well done Colette for being awarded our latest Ministry Makes Winner! Colette was VERY excited to show us the outfit she made for her son for World Book Day: he went dressed as "The Tiger who came to tea". Thank you for sharing the below pictures and information with us and to Thomas too for being such a wonderful model….
In the past few years I have attended a number of courses with the Ministry of Craft including A line skirt in a day, understanding commercial patterns, alterations, overlocking, bodice fitting, curtain and blind making, as well as knitting.
Unfortunately for me, between a full time job, a 2-hour daily commute, 2 small children and a huge fruit and vegetable garden to tend, I struggle to find time to put my sewing skills into practice.
With my eldest son Thomas in Reception this year, I had to come up with a dressing up outfit for "World book day" on 1st March, and I didn't feel like buying a standard super hero outfit from the supermarket.
Thomas wanted to go as The Tiger Who Came to Tea, so I went off to Leon's in Chorlton and bought a sizeable piece of tiger faux fur fabric. I only had a vague idea of what I was going to do with it, and I had no pattern. BUT I had a weird sense of confidence born from skill and understanding of patterns gained from attending Ministry of Craft courses!
So I went home and grabbed a roll of plain yellow paper I had in the attic, put a pair of Thomas's PJ bottoms onto it, and started tracing the half front piece onto the paper, then the half back piece. I used these tracings to cut out 2 half fronts and 2 half backs on calico, to make a trial pair of trousers. I stitched it all up and miraculously ended up with trousers that exactly fitted Thomas. When I say exactly: they were exactly the size of the PJ's I'd used as a template, except they were not stretchy... So, like we did in the bodice fitting workshop, I altered my pattern pieces, adding 1 cm at the waist on each piece, giving me 4 cm overall on the waist line. I then used these adjusted pattern pieces to cut out 4 pieces of the tiger fabric, taking care to cut out "mirror" pieces to end up with the fur facing the correct way.
The tiger trousers fitted very well, and I had odd oblong cut out bits left which gave me the idea to craft little over-shoe tiger paws. I even made little claws stitched to the end of the feet, out of shiny mock leather fabric (also from Leon's).
I attached the paws inside the bottom of the trouser legs, with a safety pin so they could be readjusted later if necessary.
With a spare band of fur, I made a simple tube for the tail which I stitched to the back of the trousers.
On another night (I have to do all this after 9pm when the boys are asleep!), I used one of Thomas's simple fleece tops to make a top pattern. This time I didn't feel like I needed to make trial on calico. I just cut out the front and the back pieces, with a V neck to make it easy to pass the head through once sewn up. That worked a treat. Lastly, I had to make sleeves, and I used the fleece top again to trace and cut out 2 sleeves. I carefully pinned them around the armhole and stitched them up.
I then finished up the trousers waist by folding it inwards and stitching it down, passing a piece of elastic in the channel created to synch it to size.
The next morning was D-Day, the 1st March, I tried it all on Thomas and he looked like a glorious Tiger! A perfect outfit for a snowy World Book Day!
I am so proud of what I've managed to do, starting out without a pattern, and I wanted to share it with you.
You are the ones who gave me the skills and confidence to have a go and make this, I am ever so grateful, thank you!!!
Well done Colette, you are a worthy winner. We look forward to seeing you again soon, I feel inspired, maybe we need a new ‘costume workshop’ for these
occasions?
A six-month subscription to Love Sewing Magazine is on the way to Colette.
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