Easy Bat wing Top Review - Kwik Sew 3720

I bought the fabric one Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday midday I was wearing this top, it really was quick to make.

Great for wearing with skinny jeans or leggings, I've worn it a lot and the band that fits over the hips is now starting to stretch. I'll definitely make another one - maybe in a lighter weight fabric which has more drape. 

One of the looks in the Blumarine A/W 2014/2015 show is a similar shape, worn as a dress, in a black satin fabric. To have a look click on the Pinterest box on the right, the images is on the 'Ideas' board.

All the sizes are in the same envelope, I made the S size.

I made the top in a subtlety patterned, stretch 'sweatshirt' type fabric. The top is pull-on and needs to be made in a stretch, knit fabric. There is a guide on the back of the pattern envelope indicating the minimum amount of stretch recommended.

Why Make Your Own Clothes?

There are a number of reason someone might want to make their own clothes - fit, style, cost, expression of individuality, the enjoyment in making them, the pleasure of wearing them and the sense of achievement in creating them. 

My personal motivation for making clothes is driven by a combination of the above. I've always found it difficult to find ready made clothes that fit well. I’m slim with broad shoulders, a small waist and comparatively wide hips. However, I do also buy clothes, usually in stretch fabrics which are more forgiving, and like to wear them with home made items.

I've made a few garments just to use in photo shoots and for fun also, the picture below is an example of one of them. You can't see much of the dress I'm afraid, I don't have it any longer so I can't take any better pictures.

This is a picture of Ellie modelling a dress from the Vintage Vogue Pattern V2960 in red shot silk - it was too big for her as you can see. It wasn't difficult to make, although it was time consuming, covering the buttons was quite a fiddly job.

Whilst matching outfit on twins is cute, surely one of the worst sartorial nightmares is walking in to a party wearing the same outfit as somebody else! Having made your own outfit you know that's not going to happen. A lot has to be said for creating unique garments as a way of expressing your personal sense of style and identity.

And there's the cost - I've seen some beautiful dresses that cost over £1000 and created my own versions. Even spending over £100 on a dress would feel extravagant. However, when it comes to coats and jackets, I know creating my own, quality items, is beyond my current skills, so I'm happy to buy them and spend a reasonable amount, justified by the lower cost per wear.

Wool Jacket McCall's 6441 and Vintage Skirt

For the past few seasons there has been increased use of textured, woollen fabrics tailored into feminine shapes on the catwalks. Dolce & Gabbana showed some double breasted jackets with nipped in waists. Nina Ricci showed some zip fronted jackets with matching skirts in mixed, textured fabrics.

Here is one of my recent projects, the navy fabric is a stretch wool purchased from C&H Fabrics. Both the jacket and skirt are lined with a super stretchy black mesh fabric from Fabricland. The lining improves the drape and makes the garments more comfortable to wear as they don't 'grip' whatever one is wearing underneath. Also some wool fabrics can be terribly itchy to wear, and the layer provides extra warmth which, for me, is always welcome.

As a suit, I think it should be styled with killer heels to stop it looking frumpy.

For the jacket I used the McCall's 6411, the fit is shown as quite loose on the envelope but judging from the line drawing on the back I knew it would be simple to tailor into more fitted version. I didn't use interfacing as the pattern suggests as I wanted to retain the stretch and keep it reasonably soft. It was simple to make, the most time consuming part was marking and taking in the extra fabric on the jacket and then marking the same measurement on the lining. 

The skirt is based on this old (over 20 years) pencil skirt pattern, I used this pattern so many times now, just changing the length. The skirt sits on the waist, some would say it was high waisted, and has a vent at the back and fastens with a concealed zip. I made mine longer than the pattern, falling below the knee. In order to reinforce the waistband and stop it from stretching I used a wide webbing tape. The waistband part of the pattern went missing a long time ago so I measure each time and cut a new one 13cm wide. I put the concealed zipper in after the waistband was attached, and run it up to the top, using no other fastenings - I find it too bulky making an overlap, it would be especially bulky in this thick fabric I used.

The idea was that the jacket could also be worn casually with jeans, and as a top layer over skirts of different colours and textures.

I think the heavy duty zip gives the jacket a more modern feel.

Neither the wool fabric or the lining frayed making hemming and general working with the fabrics much easier.

I would make the jacket again, originally I was thinking about using boucle, however I'd read about some of difficulties of working with boucle and decided, at least initially to make the jacket in an easier fabric. 

Equipment....

Some of my most used pieces of equipment.....

Over the years I've enjoyed making (and adjusting clothes) I'm mainly self taught often referring to the Complete Guide to Sewing for instruction. Quality fabric scissors are essential, I was told never to use them for anything other than fabric.

Just over two years ago I need to replace my old Singer machine and decided to purchase the Janome 2032 from John Lewis, which was on offer at the time and cost £89, the price included a two year warranty. It's a simple machine, but for my needs, perfectly adequate. I've been really pleased with it.

Janome is a leading Japanese manufacturer, the Japanese have been designing and building quality sewing machines for many years. Toyota started making weaving looms long before they started to manufacture vehicles. Juki is another high quality Japanese manufacture producing industrial machines used the world over, below is a picture I took in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam of a tarpaulin maker using a Juki machine.

In this blog I'd like to talk about my experiences and thoughts, and hopefully, help and inspire others to be creative and to enjoy fashion. I'd appreciate feedback and happily answer questions.

Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoy Over Fashion.