November 2020 - Anna-Jo Sews

The Lounge Lizard Joggers – sewing the Monsal Lounge Pants

As promised, here I am back with another make from earlier this year. Yep, 2020 has definitely been the year of loungewear, and fittingly I’ve made the Monsal Lounge Pants from Wendy Ward’s Sewing with Knitted Fabrics book.

You can find out more about the process of sewing the Monsal Lounge Pants up on my Minerva post here. Interestingly, it’s been a while since I wrote that blog post and when I read it through I discovered that I was absolutely in love with these joggers back when I wrote it. So what changed? Continue reading “The Lounge Lizard Joggers – sewing the Monsal Lounge Pants”

The Lovely Llama Print Toddler Dress and Trousers

Hey everyone! I’m back to blogging regularly by the looks of it. Here’s to keeping up with good habits once the lockdown ends and Christmas preparation goes mental…

Today I’m sharing something I made for Lauren almost a year ago, but which is now up on Minerva’s brand new site here. It’s a super cute dress and trousers made from some awesome llama panel print jersey. They definitely shouldn’t be worn at the same time, though!

Llama panel jersey toddler dress and joggers

The patterns are both from Ottobre magazine: the dress is the Sunray Jersey Dress from 3/2018 and the trousers are the First Steps Pants from 6/2019, both in a size 80 although I lengthened the dress to a 98.

Amazingly enough Lauren does still wear both of these, although the dress is getting too tight for easy dressing and the trousers are starting to look a bit short. I’m seriously considering getting the most out of my makes by finding some co-ordinating stretchy jersey (pretty sure I have some nice grey stuff somewhere) and recutting and binding the neck and armholes to get a few more months use out of the dress. Continue reading “The Lovely Llama Print Toddler Dress and Trousers”

The Stella Hoodie Dress from Tilly Walnes’ Stretch book for Minerva Makers

Phew, that title was a bit of a mouthful! Yes, I’m back and sharing another project made with free fabric from Minerva (in return for a blog post with pics on their site–no obligation to post here). This is one from early in the year–February to be exact–which is now coming back into regular wardrobe rotation. I present to you, the Stella Hoodie dress:

You can find the full post with details of the fabric and sewing process over on Minerva here. I’m not 100% sure that sweatshirting with so little stretch was ideal for this project–it’s fine for the oversized look where stretch isn’t necessary, but I prefer something more fitted which means this isn’t as easy as I’d like to take on and off. Still, it’s really comfortable and practical, and makes a lovely snuggly winter dress. Continue reading “The Stella Hoodie Dress from Tilly Walnes’ Stretch book for Minerva Makers”

The Cheeky Chimp tee and shorts set – an Ottobre boys set for Minerva Makers

And there’s a cheeky chimp wearing it too! Here’s Gabriel modelling his new Ottobre raglan tee and shorts. Back when they were new…

Chimp panel print tee using Ottobre boys pattern

Wow, Gabriel looks so young here! These pics were actually taken last summer, but the post has only recently made its way onto Minerva (I was gifted the fabric in return for a blog post with pictures there-no obligation to post here). You can find all the sewing details on the post here.

This make really marked a turning point for me, as it showed me I could make absolutely awesome kids clothes that they’ll love. The fabric was a huge help as it gave me interesting different parts of the print to play with (panel prints FTW!). Continue reading “The Cheeky Chimp tee and shorts set – an Ottobre boys set for Minerva Makers”

Hello, blog! I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go…

Sequin Cocktail Dress Hi everyone, I’m still here, and I’m still sewing!

Yes, 2020 has been quite a year and I don’t think anyone’s going to judge me too harshly for neglecting this little blog. Basically, I have no childcare now (my mum has a serious respitory condition and can’t risk having the kids) and instead am now doing lots of childminding for other people. It’s really nice to not be broke any more (why hello, all you beautiful fabrics I can now afford to buy!) but the flip side is I have hardly any spare time for blogging.

Anyway, I’ve made lots of things and have a backlog to share here. I’m getting them up on the shiny new Minerva site–seriously, it’s awesome!–as there are lots made with fabric I was either gifted by or bought from there. I’ll be blogging all the ins and outs of making them there, but also be doing link posts here where I might say a bit more about how the items are fitting into my wardrobe. I’m still really interested in refining my style and think it’s one of the best ways of creating a sustainable wardrobe. Continue reading “Hello, blog! I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go…”