Weekend sewing ...

I've had a fairly productive weekend, sewing wise. I've traced off a load of patterns, I've cut out several garments, I've muslined a special event dress, I've made the shell of a jacket and I've finished a blouse.

The blouse is BWOF 1-2008-108 and is the second top from my SWAP. I've made this before in short and long sleeved versions and its safe to say this is probably now my TNT blouse pattern. It comes together fairly quickly and it fits me straight, if you don't count the extra centimetre I added in to the bicep band. I eased up on the weight I was lifting with my biceps so I didn't get too big, but my trainer tells me it's not my biceps getting bigger, it's my triceps! At least they won't be waving in the breeze!

I've been inspired by Cidell's wonderful tuxedo front blouse. She mentioned that she found it hard to do an all white blouse. Although my blouse is cream (yes, I know you can't tell from my crappy photo), like Cidell I still struggled with the all one colour thing. So I topstitched with rainbow thread. This photo doesn't show the full range of the thread colours, but I really like it. I opted to do the button holes in cream, although I will admit I seriously considered the rainbow thread. The buttons are off white with a pearl effect through them that shows pink and blue. I tried to photograph them but couldn't make it happen, so you'll have to believe me. Looking back at these photos, I realise that Vera's tits are way more ... perky ... than mine. Perhaps that's why I'm having trouble using her to actually fit garments!

I love, love, love this blouse and will probably wear it tomorrow. After I've pressed it properly. You'll see this pattern a lot more.

The jacket I've started is Kwik Sew 3334. This has got to be the easiest jacket I've ever made. The pattern is unlined, but I'm lining it in a white matt satin that I found recently at a really cheap price. Can't remember how much, but I remember it was cheap so I bought a lot.
The pattern doesn't call for shoulder pads, but I've shoved a pair in and I think they help. These are a little too big, you can see them poking out at the neckline, but I will get a smaller pair tomorrow. The fabric is from Fashionista Fabrics and is called Spring Tweed. I've never sewed with a boucle like this, but I am very happy with the results so far. Although you can hardly see them, I even did bound buttonholes.

I'm really looking forward to finishing this one, even though I won't be able to wear it for six months!

The other thing I did this weekend was make a muslin for Vogue 7365. I'm making View C to wear to a 50th birthday party in Sydney in a few weeks. It's being held in an art deco building, so I decided to go with an art deco theme. This dress has all the classic art deco styling from the 30's, with the bias cut and lines. I've chosen black satin back crepe or crepe back satin and the straps will be a string of diamantes, with a diamante art deco leaf brooch (borrowed from a friend) at the back. I'm making a bag to go with it, but I'll post about that later in the week. That's all for now, I'm off to have a glass of red wine and cut out a skirt.