Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

I was worried about the lavender skirt and jacket looking too 'Mother of the Bride' when I'd really been aiming at 'Jackie Kennedy'. This fabric is one of the four pieces I bought at Spotlight when I only wanted a zipper. Sadly, it doesn't photograph too well. It's a poly satin and the colours are way more vibrant than this picture shows. I think this lifts the outfit. I made it into this top from V1127 . I've made the skirt before, but it was a wadder. The pattern runs very large, as all the reviews will tell you. The skirt didn't work for me because it sits very low on the hips and I have a definite waist. I haven't made the jacket, but there are plenty of reviews out there that tell of the fitting issues. I normally wear a size 10 in Vogue patterns, but knowing the size issue with this pattern, I cut a 6 for the top. In addition, I halved the height of the collar and halved the length and width of the ties. I really didn't wa...

I wanted a slightly high waisted skirt and I like the look of a skirt shaped by panels rather than darts. This is Vogue 8672 View A. I've made View C before and I may well make View E for SWAP as well. This may become my favourite pencil skirt pattern. Here it is with the jacket from yesterday, although it looks a little 'mother of the bride' in this shot. The blouse I plan to make tomorrow should fix that. Don't you love having time at home to sew? I made the skirt this morning and then took Molly for a walk, We went to see this. Funny, I never had any interest in the Sydney to Hobart before. Even Molly wanted to have a look.

I don't know why I started with this garment, but I'm really pleased with the results. It's M5244 that I bought about three or four years ago and never got around to making. The pattern has a separate piece for the undercollar, which makes it sit perfectly. The fabric is Midweight Cotton Twill from Gorgeous Fabrics and there is still some left. It sews beautifully and is a little spongy with a perfect hand for a jacket. I have enough left for a short skirt. This shot shows the assymetric collar and the button placement. The lining was a whim. I went to Spotlight yesterday to buy thread - that's all, really. I ended up with this poly satin (and three other fabrics). This picture doesn't show it very well, but the lavender spots match the fabric exactly. As well as this lining, I purchased another satin and a charmeuse that go with this fabric and I may well make one of them into a blouse for my SWAP. You can see my label in this shot. I still get a k...

I've been invited to a christmas lunch tomorrow. The price of admission is a Hawaiian shirt. I had this fabric in my stash although I have absolutely no idea where it came from. It's been there so long that it's faded in lines where it was folded, but I expect that liberal application of champagne will prevent anyone from noticing. I made this from BWOF 01-08 whatever it was I made in broderie anglaise last week - the pattern was on the table so I used it. I used the square stand from the long sleeve version and left off the collar completely. I eyeballed where to trim the long sleeve to make it short sleeve, but I made them a little too long. Once again, the champagne will take care of that. This is what Molly will be wearing and I'm ashamed to say it's RTW. Wishing you all a safe and happy christmas. SWAP sewing will commence in earnest on Monday.

I think this time I may have overstepped the boundaries of good taste. This is the very popular Coffee Date Dress as designed by the Selfish Seamtress a few years ago, which is lovely and I have made twice before. A colleague suggested we wear something christmasy to work tomorrow. I found this hideous christmas print in my stash and put the two together. It's ugly, but what else would you expect from christmas clothing? I thought the gold belt added that little something extra.

This is BWOF 01-08-108 that I've made about 6 times now. I love this pattern. I love the shape of the collar. There is another version in the magazine, which is think is 107, that has a long sleeve without the gathers and a wider nehru style collar which I have made several times as well. It's a great fit for my shape and has a lovely feminine feel. This piece of fabric is one that I pulled from stash with a view to possibly using it in my SWAP. It's a sheer voile broderie anglaise with lavender flowers and spots. It's been maturing in my stash for about 8 years now and is something that I've often wondered why I ever bought; I'm still not sure I even like it. I've taken a closer shot to show the embroidery but the colour doesn't show very well. I doubt that I will sew broderie anglaise again as it was a pain in the neck. I want to make a lavender tie to wear with this as in the Burda shot. I am undecided as to whether I will include this in...

Bloke sewing is hard at the best of times, but doing it at a distance is something else. Having said that, though, there is something to be said for not having someone watching over my shoulder and critiquing every single step, like they are suddenly a sewing expert ... This is BWOF 04-08-132 but with the button closure of 133. I made this once before for Grant's SWAP two years ago and it's been a favourite (I forgot how dorky he looked in the photos). Grant got the idea in his head for a 60's inspired overshirt, inspired by the pool scene in The Graduate and the original was all made from things he found in my stash. Likewise, this new blue version is all from stash and it's a shame I didn't take a close up of the ribbon I used because it has a lovely rope like detail on each side. The brown stripe is vintage bias tape from the op shop and the blue and tan ribbon one length, just reversed. One side is tan with blue and tan rope design and the other side i...