Hello! If you’ve been following along you’ll know that I had six weeks (of evenings and weekends) to make myself a three piece suit to wear to my Nephews wedding. If you haven’t been following along (… and would like to…!) you can catch up here…

Blimey, I’ve written a lot of words about this suit! (… and here’s some more!)

The suit pattern is Burda 6871. The shirt Simplicity 8427 and I drafted the tie from a YouTube video.

It was a bit nerve wracking as I hadn’t left myself enough time to make muslins/ toiles so I tried my best to make sure everything fitted straight off the machine. Lengthening the waistcoat as I traced the pattern worked well, saving time and sticky tape. But I got into a bit of a pickle on the jacket by trying to be clever and ending up being stupid! (Not lengthening at the official lengthen/ shorten lines)

I sized down on the waistcoat and jacket, which worked well in the waistcoat but left the jacket a little snug. Not a big problem, but I can’t afford to put on any weight if I want to get some wear out of it. The trousers are a great fit, I’ll definitely be using that pattern again. The front welt pockets are a really nice touch.

The shirt was a definite winner too, I’ve made three already – no alterations, the fit is great straight from the pattern. The iron on interfacing hasn’t washed well which is a disappointment. If it gets worse I may have to sew in a new collar, which would really be a disappointment.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt from making this is humility. I’ve been sewing for almost four years now and have managed to build up a bit of confidence. I’ve never really paid much attention to whether a pattern is categorised as easy or advanced. But let me tell you, this advanced pattern made me feel decidedly intermediate at times!

The biggest issue of course was the stripes. There was a lot of attempted stripe matching.

It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I refuse to beat myself up over it.

It’s very easy (especially when you’re taking lots of close-ups for blogging) to get really bogged down on the imperfections. I was actually starting to feel a bit down about ‘all the mistakes’ as they were all I kept seeing. Once I finally tried it all on together and I could see it as a whole, it was a bit like a Hollywood filter had come down and glossed over all the imperfections. Marvellously convenient for my ego. However, when I make another suit I think I’ll choose a plain fabric.

The wedding itself went without a hitch. My nephew looked very handsome in his army uniform and his bride was beautiful in silk and lace. We were so busy enjoying ourselves that MrA & I hardly took any photos; although we’ll pop up in the official ones when they’re available of course.

It was 16° and sunny on the day of the wedding, which was great especially considering we were by the sea. We managed to get a few snap shots on the way to the reception.

(We woke up the next morning to -1° and snow! It would have been a totally different story if they’d got married a day later!)

Oh, there was a dress-up photo booth…!

Thank you so much for all your comments, support and encouragement both here and on instagram. I feel I’ve learnt quite a lot by making this suit – it was a daunting task, and there’s definitely room for improvement, but I felt a million dollars in it at the wedding. Which isn’t too bad for £3.95 a metre from Dave The Drapers, is it?!

My first truly 100% handmade outfit;

  • Suit, shirt, underwear & tie by me (of course)
  • Socks knitted by mum
  • Shoes & belt handmade by Hermes… lucky me!

… I wonder what I’ll make next…?

Until then,

Happy Sewing!

Notes to self:

  • Don’t make the next suit in a hurry.
  • Nail those lined vents (or maybe I should staple them 🤣!)
  • Remember to use the button gauge for dividing the beltloops again.
  • Try the next size up jacket next time.
  • Maybe get some sew-in interfacing for shirt cuffs and collars.