Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

This is a crappy late night photo that doesn't show much, but I'm thrilled with these pants and I wanted to get them up here as soon as I could. They are from V8604 . I've made the skirt several times (and in several lengths) and a red version of the jacket was part of a SWAP a few years ago. The fabric is a very rough wool (blend??) that was purchased at Fine Wools Direct in Newtown some years ago now. I think I bought it because it was ridiculously cheap and it was wool, but it's sat unloved in my stash ever since. I knew I would never wear it living in the subtropics, but down here it's perfect. I knew I would need to line these pants but I didn't want to use anything silky so I lined them with the batik print cotton pants I made as a muslin. I should be warm this winter! This is my third attempt at high-waisted pants and I think I've finally got it right. I made an ivory pair for my first ever SWAP but I wore them once. I made a chocolate brown...

I haven't decided on the fabric for my SWAP pants, so I decided to push on with the final shirt. This is yet another version of my favourite BWOF 01-08-107 blouse made most recently by kbenco in a much better way than me. I need a white blouse. I have trouble with white: I don't like it and I don't like wearing it. I went looking for a textured fabric, maybe even a linen. I was hoping for a jacquard of some sort, a self spot or stripe, but I couldn't find any. In fact, the only white I could find was a cotton poplin, which is totally boring. As much as I tried to keep this plain, I just couldn't do it. I ended up topstitching the front with a Signature variegated quilting thread in purples. The variegation was hard to see so I decided to steal kbenco's embroidery ideas and stitch some little leaves on the band. If I'd thought about it before, I would have made a hidden placket and stitched the leaves all the way down, but I didn't so I'...

It's a long weekend again here in Hobart. It seems there are three extra public holidays here than I got in NSW, so I'm not complaining. I had planned to do a whole lot more sewing than I actually did, but the weather was incredible and Molly and I spent a lot of time out walking. Funny thing about Tasmanian sun; it's so much easier to get burned here. I'm told it's because of the ozone layer. I did manage one completed garment. It's BWOF 05-08-116 . I had originally planned to make this in the pinstripe that I used for the pants I made last week, but I changed my mind and used plain black. This is black stretch wool that came from the Vera Wang fabric sold on Fabric.com a few years ago. I bought three yards that I've already made a pair of shorts and a skirt out of (for my red, black and white travel wardrobe that I took to the US in 2010). This was the very last of it. The purple topstitch thread was leftover from the purple jacket and skirt I...

This isn't a great picture, taken as it is on the floor, complete with dog hair. It's BWOF 05-07-112 and this is the fourth time I've made it. This time, though, I made a few alterations. I lengthened the crotch of the front piece and rounded the side seams to fit my rounded hips. In keeping with the theme of SWAP this year, I finally decided to tackle the pants fitting issue. I muslined four pairs of pants but came back to this one, which has always been the best fit I've had off the bat. I'm pretty happy with this fit, but you will have to reserve judgement until I can be bothered to mess with the tripod and show you what they look on me. I think I will always struggle to get a smooth, wrinkle free fit in a closer style because I have muscular front thighs that create a hollow at the top of my legs. This pair of pants finally used the last of this lavender pinstripe fabric and I'm glad to have a good pattern. Coming up is a black high waisted wide l...