I’ve conquered sleeves!

Do you ever put anything off because it contains something you’ve not done before?
I couldn’t continue to make sleeveless garments for ever, not in our weather. I knew I had to tackle it eventually.
So for this month’s Minerva post I pushed myself into sleeves.
And guess what? It wasn’t that difficult. Fiddly but not difficult.
I used an old faithful pattern.

I knew I wouldn’t have any fitting issues as I had made this twice before, taking in through the waist.
So just the sleeves to add then.
The fabric was a beautiful quality polyester fabric from the ‘Botanic Collection’
It drapes like a thin dense woven fabric. It feels warm on, despite only having little sleeves.
By the time I had set my third sleeve (Yes, you read correctly. For my second sleeve I had failed to insert the sleeve front sides together!) I felt I had overcome this particular nemesis.
And viola! Another top!

I am stood in the bath. Freya and I toured the house to assess the lighting in each room. The bathroom won hands down. Expect a lot of me throughout the winter in the bath! You’ll just have to learn to ignore the strange skin colour.
Now for some close ups.
So now I’ve conquered sleeves, my next nemesis is a collar.
I’ve had the fabric pieces cut out for over a month. It is the Tilly and the Buttons Mimi Blouse.
I just need to push myself into making a start.
Love, Lucie xx
Well done you. Fabulous looking top 🙂
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Thank you. I felt like I’d had too much of a break from the sewing machine but I’ve got my sewing mojo back again now!
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Very pretty and well done conquering your fear.
I was going to say that I try to avoid buttonholes but, when I scrolled down and saw Tilly’s Mimi pattern, I see you are putting it off for a different reason. My machine does buttonholes but there’s just something about them that makes me turn the other way. Do you watch Dr. Who? Did you see the dress Clara had on in Saturday’s episode? It was a buttoned dress and it was gorgeous. I must get over it.
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If you have the button hole gadget it is actually easy. I was terrified of it on my machine, but honestly it is easy. Give it a whirl on spare fabric.
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No, we were out doing the fireworks/bonfire/pie and peas/parkin thing. I’ve had a google. Was it the lovely green dress I came across?
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This looks great Lucie. Gorgeous fabric, and like all your projects it looks as if it is beautifully made.
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Thank you! I have difficulty matching fabric pattern with patterns but it seems to work.
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Absolutely stunning . Well done.
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Thank you very much. I wear a lot of blue but needed a top to go with my black work trousers. This ticks both boxes.
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Well done! beautiful fabric too.
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Yes, I was pleased with the fabric. The pattern on the fabric looked a little scary at first but it worked well and is something I would pick up if I was looking in a shop.
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They look awesome.
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Thank you very much!
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Oh, it’s a really lovely top, I do love that fabric! Looks perfect for dressing up and dressing down. Mine was a toss-up between the Airelle and Tilly’s Mimi, but I’m scared of buttonholes as I’m switching between 2 sewing machines: one that’s from 1949 and doesn’t have much fancy stuff, and the other which does, but I’ve only had it for a while, and I’m still getting used to it (and the instructions are in German..)
And he-hey! I started setting in one of my sleeves inside out as well…
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If I get all my buttons lined up and an equal distance apart, I’ll be very happy. My mimi blouse fabric is black with tiny white birds so if all else fails I’ll use black buttons and no one will see them!
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Looks great! Well done on conquering the sleeves! I love the fabric too.
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I ordered the fabric online and admit I was a little scared when it arrived! All is good now though;)
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Glad you have rolled your sleeves up and conquered that one – The world is your pattern oyster now. That is a very wearable top…. in the bath? funny ..Jo x
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I like ‘wearable’. I don’t do day dresses so good wearable separates is the way I’m going. It might be a while before I venture into bottom halves though!
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I’m not a sewer, but I’d think collars would be easier than sleeves. Yay you! And that Mimi blouse is so cute I hope you dive right into it!
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I have chosen some very slippery pesky fabric so I just hope I can pull it off!
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Ooh it’s lovely!
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Thank you. Funnily enough, I seem to choose bolder patterns and brighter colours for my own makes than I would normally choose in a shop.
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That’s a beautiful top. Pretty fabric and the sleeves look perfect 🙂
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A good bold pattern hides any imperfection!
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A compliment too you, that is a beautiful top! 🙂
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too you = to you 🙂
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Thank you. It’ll get a lot of use, I’m sure.
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I love it! Fabulous fabric! X
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Thank you very much!
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Good job–it looks great. And I can’t tell you how many times I have ripped sleeves out because I had not sewn them right sides together. The collar on the Mimi looks like an easy one–should be a piece of cake.
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I don’t suppose it’ll be the last sleeve I rip out! Thank you for stopping by.
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Well done, and it probably wasn’t as hard as you’d first feared was it! The blouse looks great – beautiful choice of fabric.
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No, it definitely wasn’t as hard as I was expecting. I’m wearing the blouse today at work and it is performing well:)
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