{"id":76811,"date":"2021-03-29T07:01:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T11:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/?p=76811"},"modified":"2021-03-28T17:42:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T21:42:44","slug":"a-first-foray-into-sewing-for-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2021\/03\/a-first-foray-into-sewing-for-myself.html","title":{"rendered":"a first foray into sewing for myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liz<\/a> from the Advisors Circle loves making clothes for her daughters, but hadn’t tried sewing for herself. The Noord Sweatshirt<\/a> turned out to be the perfect stepping stone into making her own clothes, and she’s here today to talk about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m “a bit rubbish” about clothes for me.<\/p>\n

Sewing for my two little girls is absolutely one of my favorite\u00a0things to do, but despite countless outfits made for them, I\u2019ve never managed to get excited about the\u00a0idea of sewing something for me to wear.\u00a0I\u2019m one of those people that gets no joy from general clothes shopping. It\u2019s not that I live in sweat pants\u00a0(or jogging bottoms as we British call them). If I find something that I don\u2019t hate, I\u2019ll buy it in multiple\u00a0colors and wear those until they wear out.<\/p>\n

So sewing for myself has never been on my agenda. I\u2019ve admired the wonderful garments coming out of\u00a0this group, sometimes even purchasing a pattern and disappearing down a rabbit hole of fabric\u00a0choices, but never actually deciding to measure myself, order up the fabric and start on something for\u00a0me.<\/p>\n

The success of my first foray into knit fabrics (as detailed in my last blog post<\/a>) and the awesome-looking\u00a0Noord Sweatshirts<\/a> that kept appearing in my newsfeed got me started. I wanted a Noord,\u00a0and I wanted it in my palette of muted\/dark colors as something that I could wear and wear and wear. I\u00a0also wanted something that would be an easy sew as my first project for me: no fitting, no closures,\u00a0just a not-too-intimidating project to start out with.<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/a><\/p>\n

Having used French terry for the Playtime Dresses<\/a> for my girls, I knew I really liked working with this knit\u00a0fabric, and wasn\u2019t ready to try something thinner and potentially trickier to handle. The awesome Belgian See You At\u00a0Six fabrics had appeared in my news feed, and I went for their dark\u00a0green cloud pattern with black as a contrast color. Muted colors: So far, so good.<\/p>\n

It turns out, planning colorblocking is fun! The Noord Sweatshirt has so many potential layouts. I had a\u00a0list of the pattern pieces, and kept moving pieces from the green to the black columns. Did I want a black shoulder\u00a0and green underarm, or did I want contrast side panels on the front? So many options!<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/a><\/p>\n

I went for the XL size to get something slouchy and roomy, with a D cup. I’ve\u00a0previously read about full bust adjustments, and have been worried they would be fiddly. But the cup sizes in Liesl + Co. patterns make it\u00a0super-simple by providing a different interchangeable pattern piece\u00a0for each bust size.<\/p>\n

My fabric choice was a joy to work with. I mainly sewed it on my overlocker and everything came\u00a0together super-quick. The fabric was cut out and constructed all in one (slightly late) evening.\u00a0No setting in sleeves, no fastenings, the most fiddly bit of work being the mammoth amount of pins\u00a0used in setting the neckline.<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/a><\/p>\n

Working in knit, this was the first time I\u2019d fitted a neckline that didn\u2019t\u00a0involved gathers\/rows of basting stitches, and I LOVE how it turned out: no puckering, perfectly flat,\u00a0and not too deep a neckline. Basically, something I really like to wear.<\/p>\n

The Noord pattern has some super details, like the curved hem facings, which I did in a contrast color. I\u00a0love the length of the back, and the sleeve lengths fit perfectly.<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/a><\/p>\n

Bouyed by this success (and having worn it once or twice before realizing that, as the North Carolina weather is about\u00a0to turn ridiculously warm, I likely won’t be wearing my beautiful sweatshirt until autumn), I\u00a0decided to try another pattern: the Yanaka jacket. That one turned out well too.<\/p>\n

With my first two pieces both being a success, and the Noord in particular being something that I feel\u00a0I\u2019m going to wear and wear, I think I\u2019m hooked. I see these beautiful, handmade capsule wardrobes with\u00a0everything co-ordinating, and all beautifully tailored. That\u2019s not me yet, but maybe next time I\u2019ll do some\u00a0pattern adjustments and get something even more special!<\/p>\n

For now I\u2019m ordering some thin jersey to make myself a second Noord for spring. I can see this\u00a0pattern featuring in lots of different colors in my wardrobe!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of sewing for her daughters, Liz finally made something for herself: a beautiful Noord Sweatshirt that is sure to be a wardrobe workhorse. Read all about it in today’s post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6023,"featured_media":76824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[20783,20838],"class_list":["post-76811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-advisors-circle","tag-noord"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/liz-hero.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-jYT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78207,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2022\/01\/meet-the-new-advisors-circle-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":0},"title":"meet the new advisors circle","author":"Masha Richart","date":"January 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We've gone through all the wonderful applications we received, and are delighted to introduce the new Advisors Circle.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/advisors-circle-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64157,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2018\/02\/introducing-our-advisors-circle-members.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":1},"title":"introducing our advisors circle members","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"February 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We're happy to introduce you to our Liesl + Co. advisors circle members for 2018.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/advisors-circle-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":75495,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2020\/08\/meet-the-new-advisors-circle.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":2},"title":"meet the new advisors circle","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"August 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We've chosen nine new Advisors Circle members. Please join us in welcoming them!","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ac-hero-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83524,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2025\/05\/knit-montauk-trousers-and-a-coordinating-melville-cardigan.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":3},"title":"knit Montauk Trousers and a coordinating Melville Cardigan","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"May 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a comfortable, casual set I sewed as part of my sewing plans last fall. The racing stripes down the leg of the Montauk Trousers is my favorite part!","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/montauk-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41638,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2015\/01\/2014-flickr-mosaics.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":4},"title":"2014 flickr mosaics","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"January 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We asked a few of the people who made and posted Flickr mosaics to tell us about their 2014 sewing and their sewing plans for 2015.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mosaic4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9619,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2014\/01\/2013-flickr-mosaics.html","url_meta":{"origin":76811,"position":5},"title":"2013 flickr mosaics","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"January 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I asked a few of the people who made and posted Flickr mosaics to tell us about their 2013 sewing and their sewing plans for 2014.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/froo-and-boo-mosaic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6023"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76811"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76826,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76811\/revisions\/76826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}