Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

I sewed the buttons on the pinky greeny floraly blouse last night and sewed most of the green paisley one. Here are some crappy pictures taken at six this morning in the mirror. I've piped the front panel, collar and cuffs and used cute little leaf shaped buttons that I will show at a later date. I've also taken this picture with the jacket, but you can't tell how it looks in this picture. The jacket is still too big and needs adjusting. Tonight I just need to put the collar on the green paisley and do the buttonholes. The cap needs a lining. I will be down to the wire tonight, but I will make it!

I've made little and slow progress this weekend. The spirit is willing, but somehow when I get to my sewing room it all goes away and I stare out the window a lot. I did, however, make some progress with the June Capsule Contest garments. I made B5250 wide leg pants in chocolate brown wool. The don't photograph well and the light is too poor today to do outside shots on me (it's raining again). This is a lovely wool blend suiting from Gorgeous Farbics, but because wool and I don't get on very well, I lined them with charmeuse, which feels delightful on my skin and gives these pants a lovely drape and flow. I had a little fabric left over, so I made a skirt from my TNT pattern, also lined with charmeuse. As well as working for my JCC2, these garments also fit my vanilla choc orange wardrobe. I've also included a shot of the skirt modelled by Vera, with some fabric that I will use to make a blouse. Although it's hard to tell from this shot, the fabric has pur...

I already know what this purple animal print will be. Not sure about this one yet, but as Carolyn mentions in her post, you should have something snakeskin this season. I knowthe list says accessory, but this will do for me. The rest look pretty boring after the first two, but these three pieces are all planned purchases, with patterns traced and ready to go.

After my wasted day yesterday, I am pleased to say that I have made something I am very happy with. It's Kwik Sew 3658 made from the steam heat jersey I fell in love with on Friday night. I love this dress and plan to wear it tomorrow. I also dug from the deepest depths of my wardrobe, a cardigan dress thing I made last year from a vintage pattern and have never actually worn. The colours match perfectly. I'm undecided about whether I will wear them together or not. Together they look a little sack like on Vera, but the cardigan dress thing has more shape than this picture suggests. I've had a productive day, even though I've only sewn one thing. I have pants and a skirt cut out for my JCC2 wardrobe and a top for my vanilla choc orange thing as well. I've retraced three patterns that I thought I needed to make in a smaller size and I've bought more fabric and washed it. I realise, with some horror, that I have bought 28 metres of fabric in the last week!...

So I changed my blog colours. Today started out well. I've been working on this jacket. It's Vogue 8161 . I just learned it's now out of print and I only bought it fairly recently. I'm loving this jacket already, made from a chocolate brown sateen from Gorgeous Fabrics. I was ready to fuse and insert the sleeves this afternoon and was horrified to learn that I am out of the interfacing I used on the body of the jacket. I was sure I bought another 10m last time I was in Brisbane, but I can't find it to save my life. Of course, this interfacing is the only one I can't get locally. This project will have to go on hold for a while. Incidentally, I have pinned on some buttons for comment. I bought these because I really like them, not necessarily for this jacket, but I thought I'd show you all and see what you think. I can't figure out how to use the macro feature on my camera very well, so this is the best close up I could get. After being forced to...

A very big thank you to Gail for bestowing me this Lovely Blog Award. I am thrilled and very flattered. Yes, Gail, we must have coffee when I am next in Sydney - or perhaps next time you are up this way? My main reason for keeping this blog is to motivate myself. If I feel I have a commitment to show my work and write something at least once a week, then I will sew more. Thank you to everyone for support and encouragement. I will pass this award on, as requested, but I need to figure just who to pass it on to next. In the meantime, I pose a question. When does a piece of fabric stop being a piece of fabric and become a garment? Recently I received an order from Gorgeous Fabrics. There was a piece of ivory rayon jersey. When I bought it, I had no idea what I had intended, but as soon as it was in my hand I had a complete picture of the garment it was to become . Nothing earth shattering, I know, but the fabric felt like that top. There have been times when I've spied a fabric in a...

With a long weekend ahead of me, I had three garments cut and ready to sew, as well as a rough plan in my head for joining the June Capsule Contest at Stitchers Guild. Sadly, it all went out the window. DH received a call from his parents to say that his grandmother had died. The funeral is on Friday, necessitating a trip to Sydney. I have been offering to make him some clothes for ages, but he kept telling me not to worry because he had plenty of clothes. So, faced with a trip to Sydney and the need to wear something other than the holey t-shirts and ripped shorts he wears at home, he asked me to make him some clothes. I've been working on a shirt pattern for him for some time. The fitting problems have been numerous. First of all his chest size is about four sizes bigger than his waist. There is a 22inch difference between his chest and his waist. To get a shirt to fit his chest, there is a massive amount of extra fabric at his waist. Add to that the fact that his neck is larger ...

Everyone lately has been showing their very neat and organised sewing spaces. I thought I'd show you the disaster that is my sewing room. Bear in mind that I am in the process of having cupboards built (and that went on hold when the floods came) and that is why there is stuff strewn everywhere. The shell of the cupboards is built, but there are no shelves as yet, so I have boxes of fabric stacked in there at the moment, as you will see. First up is my sewing table, mid garment construction, complete with obligatory cup of tea. Next is my sofa, which is covered in Works In Progress, including 20m of burgundy and gold satin with which I intend to recover the Jacobean sofa in my living room. Note the orange UFO on the corner. Can you tell I don't like that dress?? Here is the bed, also covered in WIPs. These ones are in nice plastic containers. The dresser at the end of the bed is covered in patterns that don't fit in the drawers. Yes, there is a drum kit in there as well. I...