pleats | little home by hand

Ever since I bought Cal Patch’s Book on how to draft patterns I have been totally hooked. There’s quite a few things I want to show off but since this is newest and I took pretty photos of it today, here’s my new blue shirt:

It was sewn again on my Great-grandma’s trusty treadle. The blue fabric is the same clearance fabric I made the skirt of (and I still have lots left), so I could experiment a little with the pattern and some pleating.
The buttons are vintage from the flea market. I am especially proud of the bias tape finish at the neckline because the last time I tried it it didn’t work and I am glad it did this time 🙂

The buttonholes are by hand, as always.
Here’s a pic of me wearing it. I decided to tuck it in since I feel it is a bit big on me otherwise (though I might be imagining that, I don’t usually wear loose fitting clothing).

And a back shot. The pleating is actually straight (not crooked like it appears in the photo) and I wore it all day today, so that’s why it’s all crinkly.

I am totally on a roll sewing clothing at the moment, I even went ahead and did some serious splurging on nice fabrics (as in, buying nice soft 100% cotton fabrics at a price I can absolutely not afford). But oh, can you imagine the tunic style tops and Peter Pan collar shirts? I sure can!

I am discovering all sorts of smallish fabric shops in the area and most have a pile of clearance fabrics marked down to 1€/m. Clearance fabrics are my favourite to sew with since I hate to make muslins and I don’t feel guilty not making one when I got the fabric for next to nothing 🙂
This heavier weight light blue cotton (mix?) fabric has been sitting in my pile for quite a while and a few days ago I decided to make a skirt with it.
No pattern, just trying out different pleating methods until, almost by accident, I ended up with this:

I’m loving it, it fits me perfectly and the stitching looks really good…my treadle and I are getting along very well lately!
I did the button holes by hand (downside of sewing on a treadle: no buttonhole feature) but I am very pleased with how they came out. It’s actually nice work to do while watching a DVD in the evening, so I don’t mind sewing them by hand at all.