Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

These two skirts come from my TNT pencil skirt pattern, which started life as a Burda but I can't remember the number.  It has a knit coat that goes with it and dates from the early 90's.  I've lost count of the number of times I've made this pattern now. The first one is a made from a piece of wide wale corduroy that was leftover from an op shop 60's armchair I recovered about 14 years ago.  The chair is long gone, but this fabric hung around and is finally converted into something useful.  It's lined with a leftover bit of gold satin that I think was used to line a jacket a long time ago. The second is another piece of wide wale corduroy that I bought at the op shop for 50c.  It's lined with a piece of leftover black bemberg.  Both skirts use zips that came from the op shop, too.  I would say, by the  packaging, that they date to the 70's and they cost 20c each.  I didn't have enough fabric to cut the waistband, so I taped the top...

After Faye's wonderful Starting at the Top Challenge, I realised that I was sadly lacking in the bottoms department. I cut out four skirts on Saturday, complete with linings and interfacing.  All of them are completely from stash and therefore are 'free' garments! This first one is BWOF 02-10-104 skirt, slightly A-line with cute hip pockets.  I made this once before in black as part of a travel wardrobe when I went to the US in 2010 and I wear it at least once a week.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to make another. This one is made from leftover fabric from an outfit I made for a friend many years ago, long before blogging days.  It's an olive green mystery fabric that is somewhere between a faux suede and a velvet.  It's on a knit backing but has very little stretch and no recovery.  I had loads of it in black and green and this is the last of it.  The pockets and band facing are leftover hideous fabric from my ghastly-but-fun chris...

When your dog wakes you at 6am on a Sunday what else is there to do but sew? I was hoping to get another top in this weekend, but I surprised myself with two. Considering I didn't start until 9.30 and I was done by 2pm, I'm pretty pleased with myself. The fabric is a deliciously soft poly/rayon (I think) that I bought at Gorgeous Fabrics last year. I bought it at a time when I was obsessed with black and brown together, so it slots right into my wardrobe. The first is the wonderful BWOF 08-08-118 tunic. I made one of these a few years ago and I wear it all the time, so I don't know why I haven't made another. I wear it with footless tights and sandals in warmer weather and over a long sleeve tshirt with leggings, over-knee boots and a long cardigan in winter. It's a really versatile style. Somehow I managed to cut two garments from two yards of fabric. I had enough to squeeze out another TNT from KS3338. So, now I've Started at the Top, I guess I nee...

In between looking at houses today I managed to sneak in two more tops for the Starting at the Top Challenge. B5247 M5241 Both made from a 3m length of a pretty nasty poly knit I bought at the opshop. It's out of my stash now and I will actually wear these garments.

Kwik Sew 3378 - so far I have cut this top out four times and this is the first time I've made it past sewing the front seam. It's all about the fabric. I realise now that every other time I've attempted to make this, it was in a beefier knit and it just wasn't going to work. This time I've cut it in a slinky knit and I rather like it. The fabric came from Clegs in Melbourne. Every month I go to Melnourne for a managers' meeting and last week our meeting closed early. I made the mistake of asking my boss's EA if there was a fabric store nearby. He gave me detailed directions on how to get to Clegs (and I've discovered a fellow fabricaholic). The sad thing is, now that I know how close it is to our office, I will be heading down there every time I'm in Melbourne! As I was on a day trip and only a small backpack with me, I could only purchase two small pieces. I bought the slinky in black, too, for a cardigan. I was inspired by someone (and...

My SWAP is done! Here are two quick pics taken before I put the button on. After much trial, I kept the topstitching to a minimum. I decided the colour alone is enough, I didn't need extra embellishment. I used top stitching thread in the closest colour I could find (it matches better than these pictures show). I used leftover sateen from one of my SWAP dresses for the pocket bags, fly facing and the waistband facing. I like the way this helps tie everything together, even if I'm the only one who sees it. With SWAP done and a weekend of television to watch, I got started on my Start at the Top garments. I made the cardigan first, then severely cocked up cutting out the tunic, so I salvaged what I could and made a TNT long sleeve t-shirt. Now it's back to the sewing machine for the next one ...

The lovely and talented Faye is hosting a sewalong called Start at the Top where the idea is to pull out all the top/tunic/blouse patterns you've never sewn and actually use them. As luck would have it, I had already started this process inspired by Rhinestones and Telephones Franken Pattern Pledge. The two patterns I had pulled from my stash are M5241 and B5247 . The fabric is a heavy cotton interlock that I bought at an op shop in Mullumbimby for the bargain price of $3 for 3 metres. I really like this fabric and never quite knew what to do with it. It is more colourful than this bad picture shows and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of these garments. I'm making the shortest version of the cardigan and the short tunic with long sleeves. Two garments for three dollars! This is what I love about sewing. Easter is 5 days long in Hobart so as well as these two garments, I think I may also make a long version of the cardigan out of some purple slinky that didn...