Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

SWAP so far

2012-01-25T09:46:00.004+11:00

This is more for my benefit than anyone else. This is what I have sewn so far and I wanted to look at them all on one page to see how they looked.

I am rather pleased with this little collection so far. I have pants cut and ready to sew next then I think I will add a plain white blouse with long sleeves because that is one giant gap in my wardrobe.

More SWAP

2012-01-22T20:59:00.002+11:00

This is Go Patterns 4001 dress that was very popular several years ago. When I first got this pattern I made three versions in various fabrics, including one for the very first SWAP I ever entered. I liked the dress, but thought I needed to lengthen the bodice by a couple of centimetres. I avoided doing it because it meant lengthing six different pieces and I was too lazy and it's sat, untouched for years. With the theme of this SWAP being all about getting good basic patterns that fit, I decided to tackle this little task once and for all. As it turned out, I needn't have bothered. Long story short, I changed back to the original pattern and made this dress. You can't see it with this busy fabric, but the pocket detail is lovely.

There is a lovely dart in the pocket piece that matches up with the seam of the pocket so you never see it. For me and my shape, this is the perfect sheath dress. I like the waist definition and I like the way the princess seam curves down into the pocket. The neckline is flattering and the arm holes are cut away slightly to accentuate the shoulders. I am thrilled to rediscover such a great classic pattern in my collection and I'm even more excited to have sewn 6 or the 11 SWAP garments!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-02T15:25:00.004+11:00

I hadn't planned to make this skirt in this fabric but it just happened that way. The fabric is a wool/poly blend I bought at Lincraft in Brisbane some years ago on a closing down sale. It must have been cheap because I bought a lot of it. I've already made Grant two pairs of pants from this fabric and I still have enough left to make the dress I originally planned. You probably can't tell, but the pinstripe is lavender and matches the skirt and jacket I made last week.

This is BWOF 02-11-103 and the magic is in the back view. I like the darts and the godet. I really love this skirt, but only time will tell if it's a practical work skirt or if I end up walking like Mortisha Addams.

I tried it with the broderie anglaise blouse I made recently that I wasn't sure if I should include in my SWAP. I quite like the girliness of the blouse with the pinstripes.

As much as I'd like to get started on the dress, I really need to do some housework. There must be three dogs worth of hair on the living room floor and it's back to work tomorrow.

I've got an outfit!

2011-12-30T20:43:00.004+11:00

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 want a big bow or long ties because I knew the would annoy me.

Here it is with the skirt and with the jacket.

It looks so much better in real life than I can photograph with my cheap camera. I'm now on the hunt for a pair of lime green shoes to wear with this outfit.

I'm not sure what is next, but I think it may be a dress. I have a nice black wool with a lavender pinstripe ...

Second SWAP garment

2011-12-29T21:04:00.006+11:00

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.

First finished SWAP garment

2011-12-28T20:34:00.003+11:00

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 kick out of it, but not everyone who sees it gets the joke!

While the overlocker is still threaded in lavender I'll probably make the skirt tomorrow. Now I just have to choose a pattern ...

And the bad taste keeps coming ...

2011-12-24T22:39:00.004+11:00

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.

Tragic sewing

2011-12-22T22:07:00.003+11:00

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.

SWAP periphery

2011-12-18T20:57:00.003+11:00

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 my SWAP, but this will be fun with jeans, although it needs a cami as it's totally see-through!

I have about five things on the go at the moment and my christmas sewing is sadly slow as I have been plain old bone lazy.

Bloke sewing

2011-12-04T18:24:00.004+11:00

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 is the reverse. I'll post it up to him tomorrow and await the phone call - 'you should have put the stripes 3mm to the left, you should have used a different button, it should be shorter'. I'm happy with it and that's all that matters.

Christmas Party Dress

2011-11-27T21:02:00.003+11:00

I've made this dress for christmas. I have a party to attend next week at a very fancy restaurant on the Hobart waterfront and this was a perfect marriage of pattern and fabric. Burda used a two sided fabric for the short version and suggested using the reverse side for the side panels. I remembered this fabric and knew it would be just right for this project. The fabric is from the very popular Vera Wang selection that was sold on Fabric.com a couple of years ago. I bought this because I love the shades of green, but was a little dismayed when it arrived as it has a hand somewhere between cheap taffeta and ripstop nylon. I had no idea what I could possibly make with it, so I put it away and tried not to think about it.

This is BWOF 05-11-108. The long version was too long and the short version was too short, so I cut it exatly half way between. It's a size 19, which I think is a petite-ed size 38. I could have lengthened the bodice but I didn't and it fits almost perfectly. It stands out as you see (and the same as the short one in the magazine) all on its own. The fabric curled slightly at the edges and although the seams pressed nicely, it is hard to press the crushes out. It doesn't show up very well, but I used the dark side for the front panels and the light side for the front panels. I haven't hemmed it yet. I lined this fully with an olive green poly cotton from stash. I wavered between a poly charmeuse and the poly cotton and eventually decided to go with the poly cotton because the fabric is so stiff I thought I'd prefer something softer close to my skin.

I was surprised at how much I like this dress and how good it looks on. I have a lot of this fabric leftover, though. Any suggestions?

The Unnecessarily complicated dress ...

2011-11-26T19:26:00.003+11:00

I made this dress last weekend and it has hung on Vera all week as I wrestled with the closure issue. This is BWOF 01-08-121 and I'm disappointed that you can no longer access the BWOF archives for the line drawings.

The reason this was unnecessarily complicated is that although this is essentially a wrap dress, it requires an open end zip to keep it closed. I used a stretch cotton, so I needed to stabilise the fabric under the zipper. I used a length of cotton tape on the inside. On the right side, the zip attaches under the facing, which pulled the facing out, so I had to stitch the facing down. The facing itself was an issue as it really isn't wide enough. If you make this dress, I would suggest either widening the facing or completly lining the dress. I ended up retro inserting a lining to the fronts only. As usual, the pictures in the magazine don't give much clue to how this dress actually sits, so I made it sit how I like it best and this is it. It had a self fabric tie belt in the magazine, but I intend to make a black obi belt from an old pattern I have. In the meantime, I used this black belt to see how it looked. I really like this dress, which is odd because I didn't really like this fabric and I was beginning to wonder why I bought it - now I'm glad I did!

Here's a shot of the last dress on me. You can't see the detail I wanted to show, but you get a really good look at my iron and Molly. I've got to work on this photography business ...

There's a christmas dress half made you might get to see tomorrow.

SWAP sideshow sewing

2011-11-19T21:25:00.003+11:00

My mind is filled with Bluesfest because now that I no longer live a five minute drive away from the venue, of course, all of my favourite artists are playing. I am still deciding whether or not to fly up ...

One of the things I enjoy about Bluesfest every year is the artist sideshows. If you keep your eye on the music press you will find wonderful artists popping up for one off shows in all sorts of venues. With these thoughts in my head, I bring you some SWAP sideshow sewing.

I had a vague plan in my head for a purple, black and white SWAP, so during the week I pulled a whole pile of fabric from the stash and draped it all over the living room (Molly thought it was for her to sleep on). I've been adding to and subtracting from the pile all week.

This is a quick down and dirty shot on the sofa of what I've ended up with. I never consciously bought purple but it has appeared in my stash quite a lot. In addition to this pile, I have quite a few pieces that still co-ordinate, but don't fit with the plan that is starting to emerge. Hence the Sideshow Sewing.

This is KS3668 and has appeared in my SWAPs for 2010 and 2009 and is truly a TNT. I cut XS from shoulders to waist and graded to S at the hips. It's a very handy pattern to have and it looks better on a person. The fabric is cotton with a tiny purple flower and a nice olive green leaf scattered about. It was leftover from a skirt that I've long since worn out and tossed away. Buttons from stash - a totally free garment that will co-ordinate with some of the actual SWAP garments.

Now it's back to the scheduled sewing ...

Another dress

2011-11-18T18:13:00.003+11:00

This is BWOF 05-11-128 dress and unfortunately you can't see any of the lovely details. It has a lovely rounded collar, a nice wide neckline, a side zip and a blouson back just like the last dress. I really didn't think I would like this style, but it looks great on and is very comfortable to wear. I didn't line it because I couldn't figure out how to line the top - I would have needed to draft a lining pattern for the back because I didn't want a blouson lining as it would be too bulky. I was too lazy.

The fabric is a cotton print bought at Spotlight. They have it in a paler colourway as well, but this darker one really caught my eye. I thought the vague retro feel suited this 50's inspired dress. I may or may not wear it with a belt and I can't decide on what shoes to wear with it.

Next up another dress and a jacket.

Summer sewing

2011-11-16T20:37:00.002+11:00

I apologise for the poor mobile phone photos but I loaned my camera to someone who has not returned it. I took these pictures with my phone, then couldn't find the cable (disappeared in the move somewhere) so I sent these to my mini laptop by bluetooth and here they are.

This is BWOF 05-11-117 shirt dress. You can't see the details very well but this dress has a lovely shaped skirt and is waisted, so is much more flattering than a waistless shirtdress, at least on me. The back view is even less revealing, but it has a blouson-style back, which makes it very comfortable to wear. The collar has one of those shaped insert stands that I don't know how to describe. I've made them on jackets before and they sit so much more nicely than a regular collar and stand.

The fabric is a stretch cotton print I also bought in black and red (and very nearly black and white) from Fantazia Fabricland in Tweed Heads just the week before I came to Tasmania. I used some square/round buttons from stash that co-ordinate well with the print. I wore this to work last week with a black belt and cardigan.

I have a few christmas items to show, some of which I steal shamelessly from kbenco plus a SWAP plan I'd like to put out there. I also have two more completed garments to show but the whole phone/bluetooth transfer thing was time consuming so you may have to wait till I get my camera back.

Not exactly a UFO ...

2011-10-15T21:42:00.002+11:00

I cut this skirt out in the winter of 2009 but living in the subtropics, as I was, had no real reason to actually sew it up. Now that I'm in Tasmania, I may actually get to wear it. it's Vogue 8604 and I've made it several times now. I cut the size 12 straight from the packet without alteration, not even shortening it. The fabric was an op shop find that cost me $1.50 and is the most incredible quality wool that was a dream to sew.

I had intended to regale you all with the tales of my move to Tasmania, but so much has happened in such a short space of time and some of it I really don't want to re-live. I'm here now, my stuff is here and Molly arrives next Friday. Suffice it to say that moving interstate is tough, made worse when you add the deaths of five friends in the space of 7 weeks and when there is an ocean crossing involved, the degree of difficulty is further increased! I'm glad I made the move, though, unsettled as I am. I'm looking forward to actually being able to wear lovely clothes in summer, not to mention the plans I have for a new overcoat for next winter. Watch this space ...

Want to see my map of Tasmania ...

2011-08-21T13:25:00.004+10:00

I suspect only Australian readers may get that joke. For the rest of you, this song may clear things up a little.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcoreV10hI8

This picture will explain the rest.

This otherwise happy time in my life has been soured by the tragic deaths of four friends and colleagues this weekend past, three to a dreadful aircrash and one to cancer. I'm sure Australian readers have heard all the news stories. I had expected to see these people this weekend at a party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a show we had all worked on over the years. Here's a link to a story if you're interested.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-19/ian-carroll-dies/2847732

http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/paul-lockyer-john-bean-gary-ticehurst-tribute/

There will be sewing soon from my new sun-filled sewing room, along with some tales from the journey.

What do these pictures tell you?

2011-08-05T16:12:00.003+10:00

It involves a water crossing.

There will be sewing soon.

The top that didn't want to get made ...

2011-06-27T19:10:00.002+10:00

The winter before last I bought a yard of purple rayon from Gorgeous Fabrics. For some time I had had a hankering for a purple and green wardrobe. I just wanted a simple purple long sleeved tshirt and I knew I could get my favourite Kwik Sew t from a yard. Somewhere along the line I changed my mind and decided to make the top from V1020, which I had made as a dress twice before. I could do it with a yard, but it meant jiggery pokery and cutting each piece out individually. I don't know what happened, but I managed to cut the front and back and one sleeve, but when it came time for the second sleeve, I somehow cut it out of the already cut out front piece. That's what happens when you get blase and don't pay attention. I thought I could just buy some more but, of course, it had ran out. I cursed my stupidity, put it in the UFO pile and forgot about it for two years.

Last year I still had the green and purple thing hanging around in my mind. By then I had bought some lovely green and purple wool boucles from the Vera Wang collection on Fabric.com (which still remain unsewn) and I had some ideas of what I wanted to make. I still wanted a purple t shirt, so I ordered some fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. It looked strangely familiar when I unpacked it ... I won't bore you with the details but I nearly messed it up again. I managed to complete the V1020 top, but I now have a t shirt back and one sleeve as well.

It didn't end there. When I started to sew, the foot pedal on my machine got stuck. I unplugged it and started again. Repeatedly. If you ever see me wearing this top, don't look too closely. At least, after three winters, I finally have a purple top. By the way, the white smudge is not on the garment, I think it's a dust mote, although I know some people say things like this appearing on photos are evil spirits ...

This top is another example of me cocking it up. I cut a a short sleeved tshirt from my favourite pattern KS3338 and some leftover fabric. Somehow between the cutting table and the sewing table, I managed to throw the sleeves away. I wasn't going through the bin. It's now sleeveless.

At the same time as I bought the second lot of purple fabric, I bought this olive green fleece from Gorgeous Fabrics. These don't look like much, but I am wearing them as I type and the pattern is great. It's KS3678 and has a zip front jacket as well. The pants have front and back in one piece (no side seam) and fit me perfectly. I have cut the jacket in black still to be made.

I wanted a loose sweat shirt to go with it to wear to the gym over my training clothes (it's been 3 degrees when I leave for the gym in the mornings). This is from KS3001 which is OOP. It's one of those useful unisex patterns with a few variations. Both are very easy patterns.

Nothing could be easier than this. It's M9551 (probably OOP) that I made from leftover scraps. I think it took longer to cut out than to sew. Do you like the way I've displayed on my tagine?

This cardigan is knitted from a pattern torn from an issue of Family Circle dating to September 1995. The yarn is a stunning 12ply mohair from Bendigo Woollen Mills that was leftover from a jumper I made for a friend 10 years ago. I had 2 x 200g balls left that I have wanted to use for years so when I unearthed the pattern in my collection, I was very happy. I knitted it over a few nights whilst watching the DVD of the whole Twin Peaks.

Next up, the animal print velour I mentioned last time ...

Some winter sewing

2011-06-13T14:20:00.005+10:00

My exams are over and I have my life to myself until next semester. If I ever find the person who told me I could work fulltime, study part time and still have a life ... wait, I think it was me.

I have actually been sewing, little by little. Here are some things I've made recently. Both the jacket and the skirt are made from a chartreuse wool and silk blend that was part of the Vera Wang collection sold on Fabric.com a couple of years ago. I had no idea what to make with this as it is a very difficult colour to wear. I didn't intend for the jacket and skirt to go together, but I had more of this fabric than I realised. Despite some rodent activity in my sewing room, leaving a sizable hole in this fabric, I still have enough left for something else. I may make a vest.

I have a love/hate relationship with this fabric. It is incredibly soft and very comfortable, but it stretches like crazy because of the twill weave. On the other hand, it took very little coercing with the steam iron to get it back to shape and it presses like a dream.

The jacket is BWOF 03-10-102. The pattern calls for three buttons but I only put one in and I like it this way. It is lined, but I fused a strip of interfacing to keep the sleeve shape as the drapiness of the fabric made it floppy.

It doesn't look so great on Vera, but I've already worn it to work with black leggings, boots and black top, which was the BWOF funnel neck from last year. I didn't photograph it because I am lazy, but I think you can imagine it. I used a vintage button that is divided into quadrants, two bronze and two brass.

I didn't underline or interface this jacket, so I wanted a lining with a bit of beef. I found this in my stash; an op shop purchase from ages ago awaiting a use. The purple and blue goes well, in my eyes, but what really tied it in is the mustard flowers. I even remembered to put a label in!

This picture is a bit poor, but this skirt is BWOF 01-11-113 with a godet/kick pleat at the back. The detail of the yoke creates the curve and it fits me right with no alterations. Sadly, Vera is not the same shape as me, so it looks less flattering on her.

Here is the back view. I interfaced the hem of the godet to make it sit better. I quite like the idea of purple with this, so I am planning a top to wear and I'm also nearly finished knitting a purple cardigan.

Purple and green seems to be the theme today. Here is a final baby gift. It's the same as the tomato hat I've made before, but I had some purple wool left over and decided to make an eggplant hat this time!

On my cutting table this week is a lot of trashy animal prints, faux fur and velvet. You could be excused for thinking I was planning a wardrobe for Stevie Nicks!

What I've been up to ...

2011-05-29T12:19:00.005+10:00

I just wanted to pop my head up and let you know I am still here. Work has been tough and study has occupied a lot of my time. I've decided to make some changes in my life, which I will post about when I am sure what they are.

In the meantime, here is some of what I've been up to of late. This is a McCalls dress and I can't remember the number. I love this print; something about it reminds me of a zebra print, which I'd really like if anyone knows of any. I bought this knit in Tweed Heads and I have almost lived in this dress. It's a favourite for sure.

Next up is a beret and jumper for a baby born last week. I knew this one was a girl, so I made a girly outfit.

This is a beret and jumper for the first grandchild of a friend from high school. We only have just found each other again after almost 30 years, but that's a whole other story for another time.

I have made some other things, but no photos to show as yet. I have an exam this week and then the pace of life slows for a little while. I have some sewing plans that I hope to share soon.

2011-04-03T14:18:00.004+10:00

Not dead. Just busy. This is a few things I've made lately.

Kwik Sew 3668 top without the ruffle on the front. I made this when it was stinking hot and needed woven cotton tops. It was too hot to wear knits of any kind. It's a pebble print quilting cotton that's been in the stash for ages. Not very exciting, but it served its purpose.

This is the McCalls dress that everyone has made. I've forgotten the number and I'm too lazy to go downstairs and look it up. Front and back views. I made this from a very light knit I bought at the op shop for $2. Of, course, I wear it with a black slip underneath. This dress got more comments than anything I've made in ages.

This skirt is Vogue 8672 View C. I made it with leftover cotton sateen that I will regret. Whilst comfortable and lovely, this fabric is a bitch to keep pressed. This will wrinkle in no time flat, but I love it anyway. Caramel is a hard colour to match with anything, though. I might actually iron this and try and find something to wear with it to work tomorrow.

Five babies have been born around me lately. Here is some gift knitting that also served the double purpose of getting rid of the single balls of yarn left in my stash. You can't see it very well in this picture but this is actually a sweet aran knit.

Likewise with this one, there is an aran band around the middle. I've also made five of these tomato hats, but you only really need to see one.

This set is my favourite. I had a 200g ball each of red and yellow alpaca leftover from some cardigans from last year. I had enough to make two of these outfits and I had planned to make this outfit in reverse colours, but Gypsy the poodle from next door stole the ball of red yarn and until she reveals where she has put it, my plans for the outfit are on hold.

Lastly, just because I know it freaks people out, here is a baby waterdragon that has taken refuge on Vera's boob.

It's too darn hot ...

2011-02-06T18:20:00.003+11:00

Anyone on the eastern seaboard of Australia will know what I mean. I live in the subtropics; I should be used to this. Once again, it was 29degrees celsius at 8am today. I took Molly down to the beach for a swim and then we came home and stayed inside.

I've managed to finish a few things. First up is a BWOF skirt, 08-07-117 I think. This had a self fabric belt, but as this sateen crushes easily, I decided not to make it as it would look crap in no time flat. This is stunning cotton sateen from Gorgeous Fabrics and is probably better suited to winter wear where I live. I will press this before I wear it. Have I mentioned it's hot here?

Next up is bermuda shorts and I think they are from BWOF 07-07 and are possibly number 106, but I'm not sure. it's more of the diamond twill that I love I had intended to show these on me, but even now at 6.30pm, I am drenched in sweat and can't get these on. I have made the pockets and waistband facing from a scrap leftover from my Birthday Dress of last post. As it's too hot to wear these, you may have to wait until winter before you see them on me.

Finally is the completion of a UFO, ironically also from BWOF 07-07, but I can't recall the number. I started this in 2009 and observant readers will recall this hanging on my second dummy (now called Gooch) in the background of many of my photos since then. I ended up redoing the collar, using a contrast fabric for the inside stand and the undercollar. I also removed the epaulettes and tabs and ignored the pockets. Not sure about this, I may shorten it to a blouse/jackety short of thing. Don't know if I like it or not. Oh and my skills have improved since I started this dress!

This final shot is of Gypsy, the poodle from next door. She's helping me trace off a Burda pattern. This was at 7.30 this morning, before I decided to abandon work that required thinking.

My friend Rod is taking me to lunch tomorrow as a belated birthday gift and I intend to wear my birthday dress!

The birthday dress that wasn't ...

2011-01-29T19:50:00.003+11:00

I don't usually make a fuss about birthdays, but I like the idea that Trena has of making herself a birthday dress every year, so I decided to make one for myself. I wasn't expecting anyone to be whisking me off for a nice meal or anything, I just fancied the idea of having something special for myself, even if no one else noticed or even knew.

My dress had inspiration in this picture. I like the 50's feel, but shirt dresses don't seem to work on me, I suspect they are better suited to ladies with a more straight up and down figure than mine. After searching and searching I ended up with Vogue 8667. I can't recall which view this is, but it looks better on me than Vera. Now that I have gotten FAT my garments don't look quite the same on her. This has ended up more 60's, which I actually think is where my personal style is leaning.

This is a wonderful cotton that I bought at Fantazia Fabricland in Tweed Heads ages ago and couldn't figure out what to make with it. Every time I found the right pattern, I realised I didn't have enough fabric and of course, there was none left at the store. I tried this dress with several belts and this one looks the best. I have a particular obsession with patent leather, but that's the subject of a-whole-nother blog post. Looking at this now, I think I might try a red pair of shoes.

I have found myself taking more care with my sewing, coincidentally at the same time as Lindsay T posted about it. I also find I look at the instructions less and less and use my own methods and reference material. I lined this entire dress by machine, including bagging the hem. The only handstitching was to slipstitch the collar in place and I only did that because I preferred the look. I lined the top with a beige cotton poplin for comfort (it's hot here at the moment) and the skirt with some black lining I found in my stash (acetate?). I'm so happy with this lining because you could wear it inside out, if it didn't look so weird. I didn't get to wear it on my birthday, but I will wear it on Monday and I'll still feel good, especially if red shoes look good with it.

What I've been up to ...

2011-01-24T18:58:00.007+11:00

I've been fairly busy recently, both at work and at home. Although the rain has stopped we have had a few storms and quite high winds. The sea is really big at the moment and last weekend I was totally knocked off my feet by a wave that came out of nowhere. I got up in time to see Molly tackled by the another wave, all arms and legs waving above the foam. It didn't stop her wanting to play. We've had power outages twice with big trees coming down all over the place. I guess that's to be expected when big winds come on the tail of lots of rain.

But there has been sewing. First is this skirt, which comes from the V1127 Badgley Mischka pattern, which has been in my collection for some time. I've hesitated to make this suit because of the fit problems most sewers reported with the jacket. I chose to make the skirt because I wanted a bandless skirt that sat just below my natural waist. With the ridiculously high temperatures at this time of year and the ultra high humidity, I find a band at my waist a little too hot. I cut a 12 based on the actual measurements on the pattern, but I really should have cut a ten. It doesn't sit this low on me as I have hips and Vera doesn't. I'm not sure about this style; there is no shaping in the front. It is comfortable and worn with a blouse over it, looks OK. If I were to make it again I would cut a ten, add a couple of small darts in the front and peg the skirt slightly. Considering I made this from a scrap of gorgeous brown cotton sateen that I got at the op shop for 50c and the lining came from stash, I'm pretty happy. I have pressed it since this picture was taken and I promise it looks better on than it does here. This won't fit the SWAP as there are no unmastered skills in this one.

Next up is BWOF 11-08-110 made from Shine on Diamond Twill from Gorgeous Fabrics. This is the fabric that I had originally ordered in black and I am so pleased that fate intervened and gave me brown. I love this fabric. It is not as shiny as it appears here. The picture in the link above shows the fabric far more accurately than my shot. It feels like a denimy microfibre and was a delight to work with. Again, this skirt looks way better on a human than on Vera. It has the most 'wiggle' factor of any skirt I have ever made.

I had run out of brownish linings and as I was shopping my stash I found this pink, so I decided to use it instead. The lining stops above the godets, so there is no chance of it being seen. I am really happy with the way this turned out. I french seamed the lining and I used a tip from kbenco for them hem; I sewed on bias binding, stretching it slightly as I sewed, then turned the hem up and hand stitched. The bias pulls the curve in enough so that there are no folds. Works like magic. Don't know if this counts as a new technique for SWAP.

I also made this top, which is BWOF 06-07-120. I've made this twice before and it's a perfect cool summer top for my climate. This fabric is persimmon voile again from Gorgeous Fabrics. To help with the sheerness, I have doubled the fronts but left the back single. I french seamed again. Not much else to say about this.

This is one of those garments that is set to be a favourite. I placed an order with Gorgeous Fabrics before christmas, choosing all fabrics for my SWAP and with a clear idea of what each would be made into. Except this brown cotton. I have no idea what I had intended to make. I spent an evening searching through Burda magazines and came up with this, which is 05-10-129. I'm totally in love with this top. I had the military style metal buttons in my collection and they are perfect. It's also my first succesful notched collar! I loathe patch pockets, but this top would not have worked without them. If I made this again I would lengthen it slightly. It was fairly time consuming with all the extra bits and topstitching, but I think it was worth it.

I have an animal print dress cut out for my Australia Day sewing as well as a few other things, so watch this space.

Another SWAP item

2011-01-12T19:42:00.003+11:00

This is the other item I made from the swirly green chiffon. It's the dress from Vogue 1100 wardrobe pattern. I didn't pay attention to the pattern so I folded my pleats the wrong way, but I still like the way they look. I underlined this whole dress in a cream coloured voile and used french seams throughout. I even got a near perfect finish on the zipper and facing at the back. I used a slightly different technique than I've used before and it sits much better.

Here is the BWOF top on me, for kbenco. The plunge is typically Burda in that it actually drops about 2 inches lower than you can see in this picture (bad self picture taken at 6am). It's worked out OK because the ruffles cover up my cleavage, but if you make this and are at all worried I would recommend raising the neckline a bit. I am considering making this without the ruffles because I like the shape of the top. In that case I will definitely raise the neckline!

You can't see in this picture, of course, but I teamed the top with a high waisted chocolate brown pencil skirt and it's a really flattering outfit. I'm a little weight sensitive at the moment as I am still unable to train and I worked so hard on my muscle definition ... I'll have to start all over again.

Next up will probably be some bottoms. I have a stunning denimish look fabric with a sheen that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics that is screaming at me to become a skirt. It's funny how fate works because I had originally selected the black version of this same fabric and by the time my order was being filled, there was only brown left. Before I even set eyes on the fabric, an image came into my mind and so I think that needs to be next!

I'm flooded in again ...

2011-01-09T19:28:00.005+11:00

But unlike kbenco, I have ample tea making supplies. I have sufficient food (human and dog) and my house is high and dry. Then there's the sewing. I had the good sense to stock up on all the threads and zips I might need for the SWAP garments I have cut out.

First up is BWOF 04-10-105 blouse (I think). I bought this cute chiffon at Fantazia Fabricland in Tweed Heads and I think it was a whole $5.99 a metre. I love the print and I love the colours, but I'm not in love with chiffon (you'll see more of this fabric). Suprisingly, however, I love this blouse.

The rules of SWAP say that each garment must have a new or unmastered skill. This blouse has several. First of all there is sewing with chiffon, then there is the rolled hem on the ruffles. Now I know how to use my overlocker properly, I had to find an excuse to roll a hem. I also underlined with butter coloured batiste (a piece I bought at op shop and it had the price $1 written on the corner in permanent marker) and I interfaced the collar with organza. Four new and unmastered things in one garment! Oh and I forgot the french seams!

This blouse is KS 3668, again with rolled hems on the ruffles. I didn't really want another ruffled blouse, but this fabric is so sheer and the ruffles make it acceptable in public. This fabric I think is voile, but feels a little coarser than some voiles I've used. I got it at the op shop for $1.50 and there was just enough to cut this blouse from. I used organza as interfacing on the collar and front plackets. I would have used french seams, but I forgot when I cut it out that this KS pattern only allows 1/4" seams. If I'd remembered that when I cut it out, I would have cut them wider.

As I don't know how long I will be flooded in, I may well get a whole SWAP sewn before I can get out again!

First garment 0f 2011

2011-01-03T17:27:00.004+11:00

This is BWOF 04-10-111 tulip skirt. I don't love it, but I don't hate it and it is perfect for this too humid weather. I wore it work yesterday and it was cool and comfortable. This is made from a stretch cotton I bought at Tweed Heads a few months ago and never really knew what to do with. I cut a straight size 38, but it's a little loose in the waist, which suprised me as I have gotten FAT since my holiday (and an injury that has kept me from training for 6 weeks, but I won't bore you with that).

I also won't bore you with end of year wrap up; suffice it to say that I was surprised to find that I had made 59 garments in 2010 (why don't I have anything to wear?).

I was also surprised to find that I got a Credit for my first semester of study when I handed in a less than stellar essay, didn't complete three full essays in my exam and struggled to keep up with the weekly MCQs. I thought I'd be lucky to get a Pass. Maybe 2011 will be a better year ...

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T09:04:00.003+11:00

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been busy. 2010 ended in a flurry of activity and 2011 is starting out the same way. Too much to do in too little time.

So that's why I've added to it and joined the Vintage Sewalong, see the button to the right. I'm making a dress from 1965, Simplicity 6218 in a red burn-out cotton.

In addition to this, I have joined SWAP 2011 and committed to the usual 11 garments Here is the pile of fabric I pulled from my stash as inspiration. Some of this has already been cut out and may or may not make it into my SWAP, as I have no real plan as yet. I have ordered more fabric and I have more than enough garments planned, so it remains to be seen which ones end up in the collection and indeed, which version I am making. I haven't even decided on whether to do all separates, mostly dresses or a mix. I guess my plan is that I have no plan. We'll see how that turns out.

In the meantime, Happy New Year to you all.

Disjointed travel wardrobe

2010-11-03T07:02:00.006+11:00

Sewing is done for my disjointed travel wardrobe. These shorts are from BWOF 05-09 and I think they are 103 but I can't remember. The fabric is more of the very fine Vera Wang wool that I used in the skirt in the last post. Pockets and facing are the same spot cotton. Nothing remarkable, but the fit is good and they will be comfortable.

This is another blouse from BWOF 02-10-114. Something unprecedented happened with this blouse: I don't not have suitable buttons in my stash so I HAD TO BUY SOME! These buttons were perfect ( from Moo Moo Stitches last Sunday in an emergency). The thing is, these buttons cost $2 each, totalling $20 and the fabric only cost me $10! But I love this blouse and it will get loads of wear. When it's time to toss it, I will keep the buttons. The close up is not too good, sorry. They are dyed shell with little flowers carved into them.

I made the longer version of this blouse also. I think it is 113 from the same BWOF issue. I used the oversized collar and stand, but did not use the outrageous oversized turn-back cuffs. I think they'd just piss me off after a while. Having made this blouse three times in a week, with three different fabrics I have to say the sleeve head is too big. I never have trouble inserting sleeves and I assumed it that the spot cotton was just harder to ease. Both the red one and this one have stretch and a looser weave and the sleeves were still hard to ease in. I ended up clipping the armscye a little. Next time I will shave some off the sleeve pattern piece.

The longer version has a lovely little gusset in the side. I like the way this turned out. Incidentally, I bought this fabric for the last SWAP with the intention of making a dress, but I felt it a little too masculine for the style I had chosen, so it has sat in the pile tempting me ever since. I think it works for this shirt.

Last up is a couple of berets I knitted from a Jo Sharp pattern you may recall I made once before (in green for my friend Jo). I love this pattern, it takes just one ball of Silkroad Aran Tweed and can be knitted in one evening in front of the television. One of these is a gift.

So there you have it. I hadn't intended to make a travel wardrobe, in fact, I hadn't really intended to be travelling so this is a little haphazard. By sticking with the red/black/white/grey theme and pulling items from my last SWAP (and indeed other things in those colours) and including a few purchased items I seem to have worked it out. I bought an incredible red and grey knit poncho from a recycled clothing store! I will post pictures of these things in action when I can find someone to take a picture for me.

Now I'm off to do a two hour exam!!

Opinions please ...

2010-10-24T17:45:00.003+11:00

I made this blouse, which is BWOF 02-10-114 from a wonderful cotton I bought in Tweed Heads. My dilemma is whether to use white or red buttons. Black I've already dismissed as too boring. I hope you can actually see them as these photos are out of focus. This is a lovely pattern and has a long version, too, which I think is 113. I omitted the large, turn back cuffs, but I'm considering making a long version in red. The long version also has oversized collar and stand, which looks fun. This stand is square, too, which is way more easy than the usual curved one.

I can't decide on red or white buttons, so I'm keen to hear your opinion. I'm leaning towards red because it takes away the preppy feel, in my opinion.

Here's also a bad shot of my label, which I made in red for this one because it felt like fun.

This skirt is BWOF 02-10-104. I made the shorter version with a piece of wool that came from the Vera Wang collection on Fabric.com. I know a lot of people expressed disappointment with the quality of some fabric, but this wool is lovely. It's quite fine and even a little see through so I lined it. It has 1% lycra, too, so it will be comfortable. Sadly, as Vera and I begin to look less and less like each other, this skirt looks daggy on her. You can't tell from this shot, but there are angled pockets at the hips.

This is a shot of the inside. I used the cotton from the blouse to face the band as well as make the pocket bags.

Two more additions to the travel wardrobe. Now that I'm almost finished my assignment, there will be more time for sewing!

It looks better on me ... edited

2010-10-15T09:54:00.003+11:00

I took this bad photo from the magazine I saw this in originally. I love this with the over knee boots. Faye, this about where it hits me - just below mid thigh.

Inspiration

Execution

This fitted Cue dress has a cut out back. I found almost the identical fabric (would you believe it) but I decided I liked the crazy paving effect better than the floral. It looks sack-like and 70's hippy on Vera, but on me, with over knee boots it is actually kinda sexy, if I do say so myself. The original picture I have of this dress shows it worn with over knee boots. I used KS3633 the same as I used for the striped dress last post. I have a couple of different coloured tight slips to go underneath, a black, a red and a flesh coloured. I cut extra small at the top grading to small on the hips and it fits perfectly with no unsightly pulling. It's the first real knock off I've ever done and it was a pretty simple one, but I'm uncommonly pleased with this. It's the only eveningish dress I will take. I will post a photo of me wearing it in a yet to be determined location.

Some sewing going on

2010-10-10T18:15:00.003+11:00

In the order I sewed them;

Burdastyle shorts downloaded free from the website about three years ago. I've made them about six times now and have no idea of the name or number but I love these shorts. The flat front style with the buttoned sides is very flattering. These are made from remnants. It's a printed drill that was leftover from a christmas present last year. Buttons and black drill from stash: another 'free' garment!

M5974 again but I've forgotten which view this is. I bought this border print knit a year ago and the border confused me every time I laid the fabric up to cut out. I cut the borders off, laid the fabric up on the table and then I had a better idea of what I wanted to do. I sewed the borders together to make the sash. I've already worn this with a red belt.

This is KS3633 which I bought to knock off something I will show you later in the week. This is part of a travel wardrobe I'm in the process of making. The fabric is way nicer than it looks in this shot.

I had enough left to make another 3/4 sleeve t shirt. Another 'free' garment! I probably won't include this in my travel wardrobe as I don't want two similar garments clogging up my luggage.

This is another part of my travel collection. It's BWOF 03-10-126. It's not hemmed as I ran out of thread and I am presently flooded in as it has been raining non-stop for about three days so I can't get out to buy more. I'm not sure about this style yet as I don't normally wear things like this, but I'm sure it will be comfortable for long flights.

I may be unable to get to work tomorrow unless it stops raining overnight, so there may well be more to see tomorrow!

What I did when I should have been writing an essay ...

2010-09-12T16:41:00.003+10:00

First up is M5974 View D - the wrap version with long sleeves. Nothing amazing about this dress, it's just a good easy wear work dress.

The pattern is a Palmer and Pletsch, so contains a lot of fitting instructions and includes 2.5cm seams in places, which drove me made at first. I sewed as directed for this one and ended up cutting off all of the excess. I cut a straight 10 and shortened the skirt a full 5cm. I love the pattern and I love the dress. I ended up trimming the extra seam allowance from the pattern for the next one.

Next up I made View A of the same dress made from fabric that I've had for at least three years now. Cidell made a fabulous maxi dress from the same fabric ages ago and I loved it so much I ordered some. It's been a hard fabric to work with. One side of the fabric is an uninterrupted print, the other side is panels with a border in between. For that reason alone, I have been hard pressed to make it work. I've laid it up on my cutting table so many times and have never been able to make a pattern work. This one was the best so far. The back is one piece, but the front is two, so I planned to cut the back from the side of the fabric with the uninterrupted print and the front from the panelled side. Sadly, the skirt was too wide. After much head scratching, I came up with a frankenpattern solution.

I morphed the top half of M5974 back onto the skirt of M5975 (the one I made last post). It fit perfectly. The front is untouched, but I folded the pleats out of the skirt to make it fit into the panels. It took way more time to cut this out than it did to sew it. I've photographed it here with my pink boots and I also have a pair of hot pink slingbacks, but I forgot to upload that picture. And it's not crooked like it looks here. Oh, and I just realised the unfortunate pattern placement on the top!

Last up, I made a t shirt from the leftovers of the fabric from last weeks dress.

It's KS3338. I cut the sleeves from the border. The other sleeve has the cross band at the wrist. Nothing too exciting, but I do love getting a free garment from leftovers!

There's a story to this ...

2010-09-10T07:50:00.003+10:00

But first I must thank Kristy for showing her inspired method for creating labels at home. I have been planning to get some labels made for ages now. Indecision about what I wanted and extreme laziness are the only reasons I actually haven't done it. Within half an hour of reading of reading Kristy's I had bought some transfer paper and ribbon and started work.

Part of my indecision was font choice, but then I realised that as I am not trying to create a recognisabe label for sale, I can have whatever I wanted. In fact, I could choose a label to suit the mood of each garment! I downloaded a whole heap of new fonts and tried some of the ones that came with Word. This is printed on pink paper because that is what I had in the printer. After this I printed the labels on transaparency so I could try them out on various ribbons.

Now to the back story.

I once worked with a woman who was a serious label queen. She referred to everything by its label. Nothing was simply pants, shoes, bag etc. Everything she owned was known by its label. She was also a serious name dropper and hated the fact that because I worked in film in television for 17 years I could really drop names if I had to. In fact, one of colleagues who had tired of this woman and her name dropping, told her that I had "Slept with more famous people than she'd ever meet."

But back to the labels.

One day I wore a dress to work that I had made. In a moment of uncommon generosity this woman admired my dress and then said "Who is it?", meaning what label is it.

I replied, "Fug Divino."

My label was born.

Dress in action

2010-09-08T10:36:00.003+10:00

I rarely, if ever, manage to get around to posting pictures of me actually wearing the garments I make. There is no reason, other than laziness. After wearing this dress all day Monday, I decided to actually take a picture. I look a little stiff and stern in this shot. I blame that on the dash across the verandah from where I wedged my camera on a very sophisticated box to a posing spot I had forgotten. Next time I'll make a mark on the floor, like a sensibe person would.

I love this dress! It's comfortable and flattering and made me feel great all day, even though I look like I'm clenching my teeth in this shot! To avoid the frump factor, which worried me with the colour and print, I paired the dress with a pair of funky boots which don't quite make it into this picture (again with the mark on the floor). Here's a really fuzzy shot of my shoes so you can see them.

I am alive ...

2010-09-05T18:59:00.003+10:00

I'm sorry for not posting in such a long time. Thanks to everyone who asked after me. I seem to have gotten lost a little in the past month or so. Not sure if it was winter weariness or something else, but I seemed unable to get out of my own way. I have been sewing and knitting (a little) so I do have something to show for myself. In addition, I have started studying again and it's taken a while to sort out my routine of work/study/sewing. For those who are interested, I'm doing to a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science. As well as choosing a double degree, I have rather foolishly chosen double majors in both Arts and Science. It may take me until I am 90 to finish, but that's OK. I've also been training every day, so I've been up at 5am 6 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I run the lighthouse at Byron Bay and if you've ever walked it, you know how hard it is. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is weights. You'd think I'd be in good shape, but no, I seem to keep getting pudgier. The joys of middle age ...

Here's the small amount of sewing I have to show.

This is a beret from a Jo Sharp pattern (forgot which book) and the yarn is a Jo Sharp alpaca (also forgotten which one). I bought one ball of this yarn to test for a vest pattern that I didn't work out, so I was delighted to find a pattern that needed one ball of the exact yarn. It's rare that I actually knit something with the recommended yarn. This was a gift for my friend Jo who lives in a colder climate than me.

This is the same as the yellow cardigan I made a few posts back. This time I did not make a shawl collar. It looks better than this photo suggests. I've used a very old Bendigo Woollen Mills 5ply crepe wool that has been marinating in my stash for about 15 years.

Also on Vera under the cardigan is a green faux suede BWOF skirt that I've since binned. I loved the colour and I was sure the panels with topstitching would work, but no, it looked dreadful on me so I chucked it. I need to get to grips with what works for my shape and what doesn't.

I made this dress today. It's McCalls 5975 which is my new favourite knit dress pattern. There are so many variations I can see I will use this again and again. The fabric is something I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics probably two years ago now. I never wear blue, so it was a surprise for me. Although I loved the print, I could never quite figure out how to use it. It's in blocks with the big black flower thing in the middle. In between are black stripes and I very nearly used those on the sleeves, but chickened out. I have enough left to make a top, so I'll experiment with that for a different look.

I've made a whole load of basic skirts and tshirts in solid colours, but as they aren't very exciting I haven't bothered to photograph them.

I have four more dresses planned for this week and if I'm lucky I might get flooded in!

Popping up

2010-07-18T10:51:00.002+10:00

I've been busy. Too much going on. My energy is limited and my mojo almost non existent. I have made a few things, but nothing really very exciting.

These jeans are from the free Burda style Anita jeans pattern that I make every time. Somehow I managed to erase all the other pictures I took and this is the only one left on the camera. Of course, I managed to keep the one that makes me look 6months pregnant. I used a heavy duty thread for the top stitching but I won't do that again, it looks a little cartoony to me. Still, the fit is good and I needed jeans desperately. Boy do I look fat in this picture!

This is KS 33378 I think, the twist neck top that I have binned every time I've made it. This time it seems to work. This is an incredibly soft rayon jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. The fabric will probably stretch a lot with wear, but it feels so lovely on my skin I don't care if it looks too big.

I knit this from a Jo Sharp pattern in an alpaca and silk blend. You can't really see it in the picture but the ribbing is 20cm long and goes way up over the waist, keeping the garment close to the body.

I've cut some fabric from my purple and green collection, but I am having trouble staying in my sewing room to actually stitch any of it together. I'll have another go this afternoon.

Disjointed week

2010-06-14T18:22:00.002+10:00

Well, so much for the holiday. A series of incidents at work meant I was called back early. I will take more time off after the end of the financial year. I'll stop complaining and show you what I've sewn.

I made this pair of yoga pants. They are BWOF 11-2007-122. I made them from a microfleece and they are a delight to wear, despite this awful picture. I've traced the matching yoga top and will make that one day when I have time to do something other than work.

Remember the black and white boucle jacket I made that was too small (Vogue 8161)? I retraced the pattern in size 12 and made this jacket. It's in Gorgeous Fabrics rayon doubleknit and was inspired by a jacket I had many years ago. Back in the days when I had a real, honest career in film and television I travelled all the time. I had a red, black and white wardrobe that was wholly for travelling. As part of that wardrobe I had two doubleknit jackets, one red, one black. They were princess seamed zip front jackets and one the central panels were quilt stitched. They were able to dress up simple skirts and make them corporate friendly when I needed it, but they also worked with jeans for casual situations. The jackets are long gone, but the holes they left in my wardobe are still there and this jacket is the first attempt at plugging said holes. I love cardigans, but sometimes I feel frumpy so having a doubleknit jacket gives me the comfort without the frump. I will make a red one in the coming weeks.

On it's own, this jacket looked a little austere, so I hunted through my button stash and found these. I had only four and they came from they op shop where I purchased them for the princely sum of 50c! They're smaller than I would normally use on a jacket, but I didn't want the buttons to overpower the simplicity of the jacket.

I also made this skirt as a wearable muslin. It's BWOF 01-2008-127 and is part of a skirt suit. It has panels to give it shape (no darts) and is actually really flattering on me. I topstitched the seams on either side to highlight the shaping and to hold the doubleknit flat. I had intended to make a feature of the topstitching using a heavier thread, but it would not sew on the fabric, so I gave up. You may recall a few weeks ago I made a skirt from this same fabric (BWOF 06-2009-124) with pleats in front. It didn't even make it to its first wear. I recycled the lining and zipper for use in this skirt and the fabric will become something else. A perfect example of what happens when you don't use the recommended fabric. I have a green faux suede one of these in the pipeline.

Lastly, this evening in between basting roast potatoes in duck fat, I made this top. Once again, it's KS 3338 with the Stitches cowl variation. Last time I made this, Vicki asked which Stitches it was from. It's Volume 17, Number 2 and the magazine also added a gather in front and changed the sleeves. I just use the cowl and I love it, it covers the back of my neck without restricting. I also have a version of the cowl for the higher neckline.

It' not been happening for me this week ...

2010-06-06T07:51:00.003+10:00

I started the week with a mind full of plans. I traced all the patterns I needed to, I washed and pressed all the fabrics I was going to cut, I even prepared a whole heap of food so I didn't have to worry about cooking.

You may recall a few weeks ago I mentioned a piece of lovely leopard print cotton fabric that I had no idea what to do with. Well, I decided to make BWOF 08-2009-128, the Parisian chic dress. I liked the idea of such a simple, elegant dress in an animal print. I even suggested to Gail that she make the same dress in a gorgeous silk animal print that she'd bought. Short version is this; I did not have enough fabric. No problem, I will drive up to Tweed Heads and buy some more. I moved on to the next garment. I had planned to make Vogue 1020 top as I'd made it loads of times before. I had a yard of lovely purple rayon jersey that I had bought especially for this top (part of a green and purple wardrobe). Short version is this: I cut the fabric out, but when I went to sew it up the front was missing. What I must have done is cut the front and put it aside, then when I went to cut the sleeves I grabbed a piece from the wrong pile and cut a sleeve out of the front instead of the scrap pile. Of course, Gorgeous Fabrics has now sold out of this colour! That's what I get for not paying attention when I cut. The next day when I went to Tweed Heads to buy more leopard print they, too, had run out! They had another version with a slightly more yellow background that I may go back and buy tomorrow.

I spent a day trying to figure out what to do with the leopard print, but I have now put it aside and tried to MOVE ON!!

I made this dress from Vogue 8489. I bought this fabric when I was buying everything red and black for my SWAP. Originally I had planned to make the famous Vogue 8379 wrap dress, but once again I did not have enough fabric. Now, I have never been in love with this dress or the fabric, which is Swirly Girl Jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. The gold is a bit more in your face than I normally like, but when I started to put this dress together, I decided it was the perfect combination. It's brighter than this picture suggests and the gold catches the light beautifully.

In between cutting out and making this dress, I decided to make a new dog bed. This goes to show how obsessed you get with your sewing. Molly likes this bed, but she sleeps with me at night, so it only gets used when she wants to be alone. It originally had some rubber backed nylon crap, which stretched and tore pretty quickly. Given that the whole thing cost $30 I don't know why I wrestled with this, but the canvas was from stash and I hate to waste things. It took me about 45 mins to rip open the old bit, cut it out and sew but I spent about two hours trying to wrestle this back together. It was made more difficult by the bend in the steel caused by someone who stood on it to try and reach something high. And it wasn't Molly or I.

When I entered SWAP this year I had two wardrobes bubbling away at the back of my mind. One was the red and black I made, the other was a green and purple wardrobe. The diagonally striped rayon jersey to the right of this picture was the beginning. I bought it two years ago and because the pattern is diagonal, it has defeated me. I don't know what to do with it.

I pulled a whole heap of vaguely similar colours from stash. There are still more but I was too lazy to haul all the boxes down. You can see the forsaken purple rayon in the middle of this picture. To the left is some lovely purple slinky that will become a dress in the next day or two. As for the rest, I have no idea. I'm leaving all this on the bed for inspiration.

Today is trench day and as soon as this is posted, I will eat my breakfast and trace my trench pattern, but as this has turned into a ridiculous ramble, that will come later.

Simple sewing

2010-05-30T17:44:00.002+10:00

I have been sewing, but nothing exciting. I made this top from Kwik Sew 3338 with my usual Stitches magazine cowl collar added to it. This is the same beautifuly rayon as the darker brown I made earlier in the week. I bought these two fabrics to use as layering garments. They look better together in real life than on Vera.

Next up I made these pants from BWOF 10-2007-115 - the same as the charcoal ones I made a week or two ago. Sorry about the photo on the bed. I need to find a better way to photograph pants. I bought this fabric last winter and never got around to sewing it up. It's a heathered brown RPL from Gorgeous Fabrics and if you want a lightweight pant or skirt fabric with lovely drape, then I highly recommend this one. It is still available and I think I have to get some more. I have a dress in mind.

I had enough left to make this skirt from Vogue 8604. It's way, way longer than I usually wear but I decided to give a longer skirt a try for winter.

I'm not sure what to sew next. I'm stagnated on the trench and I don't want to force myself to work on it when I'm not feeling the love. I'm going to sit down tonight and wade through some patterns and see if anything strikes my fancy. If it doesn't, I have a pair of jeans cut out and ready to sew.

A quick one

2010-05-25T17:27:00.002+10:00

Just a quick update to show you this. It's BWOF 10-2007-115. The photo doesn't do the colour or the fabric justice. It's a rayon lycra jersey that I bought at Fabric Fantazia in Tweed Heads when I took my machine in the other day. I only bought a metre of this colour and another straw colour, but I think I will go and buy some more. It's the most luscious slippery velvet soft jersey I've ever seen and I can't wait to wear it. I like this top, although I did find myself thinking of Cidell's BWTF while I was reading the instructions. I'm off to make the other one now.

The skirt that nearly wasn't ...

2010-05-24T16:34:00.002+10:00

And perhaps shouldn't have been. It's Vogue 842 6 and I've made this several times now, but this one took me three days. The fit is perfect and I love the skirt, but I was an idiot and made a bad fabric choice. On top of that I cocked the zipper up three times and had to take it out three times (I put it in the wrong place), then I sewed the wrong bits together at the back. Then I totally messed up the waist bands and had to redo them. And I used faux suede. Not just any faux suede, a microfibre sofa covering faux suede. The fact that it will never crease on your sofa means that it is impossible to press the seams flat. The flash reflecting off the fabric makes this look worse than it really is. It is wearable and the colour is a lovely browny grey that looks nicer in real life and goes with so many things.

Here's the back. Will that pleat ever flatten out??

I went on to make this top. It's the BWOF 05-2009-103 and I've made it as a dress twice before. I absolutely love this style, either as a dress or top. I haven't hemmed it yet as I'm undecided about the length.

Tomorrow it's onto the TRENCH.

I only went in for a service ...

2010-05-21T12:19:00.002+10:00

But I came out with this.

It all started yesterday when my machine started not wanting to sew. She's needed a service for a while and I did promise her that if she made could wait until I finished SWAP, I'd treat her to whatever she wanted at the day spa. She held up her end of the bargain, I did not. I have continued sewing for weeks and yesterday she said no more. Here is the skirt we wer working on. I got half way round the hem, as you can see by the pins. This is BWOF 06-2009-124. Although the pattern called for taffeta I think, I used doubleknit as I was after a comfort skirt. One of those things you can drag out and wear with no fuss. Not sure if I got it, but I will this will get worn. It's a little big, so I may take off the waistband and take it in a little.

Anyway, whilst I was on my way to the repair man in Tweed Heads, I began to talk myself into buying another machine. Yesterday I started up the Husqvarna I bought a while ago and started a top. It sews well and is very useful for many things, but she has no stretch stitch, doesn't really enjoy twin needling and has a broken knob, which means I have to turn the wheel with a pair of pliers. Plus, the bobbins are different and my foot collection doesn't fit. Miss Husky has her own, very extensive foot collection, but it's not the same and I always spend ages figuring out how they work. Faced with the possibility of NO SEWING for the rest of my four week holiday, I knew I needed another machine. My first thought was for a basic machine, to be my second. Then I decided this was silly. My new machine would be better. In fact, I already had researched the machine I really wanted because I wanted more buttonholes. To cut a long story short, I researched this machine last year and it had a RRP of $999. I didn't want to spend that much, hence the purchase of Miss Husky at that time. You can imagine my sheer joy when I saw that Janome had recently run a Mothers' Day special and were offering this machine at $499! Given the mood I was in, I reckon I would have bought a coverstitch machine, too, had there been one in stock!

So I brought her home and unpacked her. So we could get to know each other, we made this top.

It's BWOF 10-2007-114 - dolman sleeve with neck ties, which I took off at the last minute because I like it better without. I thought I would be ambivalent about this top but I really like it. This fabric was another $1.95 a yard stuff that I agonised over. This is a really quick and easy top to make. I make it more complicated by lining the whole thing (sheer fabric). Miss Janome hasn't told me her name yet, she's still a little shy.

Things that make you go ....meh

2010-05-19T13:18:00.002+10:00

This is Vogue 8161 and I'm not sure about it. The boucle is loose, so I decided to interface the whole jacket so maybe I stretched it out of shape or maybe I've just bulked up too much in the shoulders. Either way, it's tight. It will be OK to wear over a sleeveless dress, but if I wore it over a top it would be a little uncomfortable to wear all day. Having said that, though, I am rather pleased with my bagged lining. I will finish it. It just needs buttons and a good press. Maybe if it goes in the magic wardrobe for a while, it will be OK when I go to wear it.

These are some trench patterns I'm considering. I think this last one might be it as I like the collar. I have a few more selected, I just need to read through the patterns and see what I find. Tomorrow I'm back to sewing knits as my jacket sewing today has not filled me with joy.

Some quick and satisfying sewing ...

2010-05-17T06:56:00.003+10:00

I'm working on all sorts of things at the moment, but I found myself wandering around the house rendered totally incapable of doing anything because of indecision. I showed some fabrics in my last post that I am keen to sew but didn't know what to make. As well as those there are a whole lot of others that I can't bring myself to put away for later yet I can't seem to cut them. So I opened a bottle of champagne on Saturday night and started cutting things out. Most of the fabrics I was so stressed about cutting into were $1.95 a yard from a Fabric.com sale, so there was no need for stress. Here are the first couple.

This is BWOF 09-2007-101 tie neck top. I thought this might be a ringer for the Jalie pattern, bu it's nothing like it. It's loose and is described as an overblouse, which is perfect for this knit as it's quite sheer. I will wear a cami under it for now and a long sleeve t shirt under it when it gets colder. I made no attempt to match patterns and I waivered on changing the gathered sleeves to plain ones, but eventually went with the gathered. I rather like this and today I am making some black pants to wear with it.

Second up is Vogue 2989. I bought this wardrobe pattern last year when I wanted more knit dresses. I absolutely love it! I love the shape of the neck and for someone with short hair, having coverage on the back of the neck is essential in cooler weather. I like that I can still have a v neck, but coverage at the back. I was wary of interfacing the facing as I omitted the zipper so I used a very light tricot interfacing, but went back and reinterfaced with something stiffer to keep the neck upright and the facings from flipping out. It still slips over my head with no problem. Next time I might make the facings into a half lining. You can't see the detail but the pleats are stitched down and it is a really flattering dress. While I was staring at this on Vera and thinking how stylish it looked, I had an urge to pair it with some bright colours and this is what I came up with.

Yes, they are hot pink patent leather boots. I feel very 60's when I wear them. More later ...

The 8 O Clock Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-05-14T18:08:00.000+10:00

The 8 O Clock Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Thinking out loud ...

2010-05-09T17:59:00.003+10:00

My SWAP pictures are finally done and sent away and I can think about other things. It was a trial getting my pictures as my photographer was less than willing and complained the whole time. Funny how it was different when I wanted to take his pictures!

This weekend I sewed some of the things I cut out two weeks ago. First up is this skirt. It's Vogue 8604 size 12 straight from the pack. I probably could have gotten away with a 10, but I thought I'd be better off with a 12 for winter. It's the same fabric as the pants I made a couple of weeks ago and fills in a big gap in my wardrobe. I have enough left for a vest and maybe even a jacket.

Next up is Vogue 2091, a DKNY pattern I bought at the op shop for 20c. I thought it was OOP but you can still buy it from the website. I made View C (the one on the left) but without the bottom band as I thought it might be too long for me. There are three very different dresses so this is good value.

It has a strange diamond shape gusset under the arm which seems to restrict more than it helps. That said, I actually like the way this looks on. I've tried it with boots and cardigan/jacket thing as well as with a black obi style belt, so it will go into rotation when the weather cools.

A few weeks I saw this Sportscraft catalogue and fell for this trench coat. You can't tell from this shot, but the fabric is ribbed like corduroy. I knew I had seen the exact fabric on the Gorgeous Fabrics website, in fact I had been eyeing it off for a while but couldn't think of anything to use it for. As luck would have it, Ann had a sale the day I decided to buy it. I added 3 yards to my shopping bag, but by the time I got to checkout there were only two yards left!! I figured I could squeeze it out as Ann is always very generous with her cuts. If not, I will make a shorter one. I have several BWOF trenches in mind and will make a decision this week. This is my first knockoff/inspiration from current RTW, so I'm rather excited.

When I decided to knock this coat off, I knew instantly the fabric I wanted to line it with, because I had been eyeing it off also, looking for an excuse to buy it. It's a beautiful silk charmeuse and I love it so much I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't hide it inside a coat. But what can I make with it? This picture does not do it justice.

The other thing I don't know what to do with is this cotton leopard print. I bought this last weekend and it screamed at me to become a cliched safari style dress and I can't seem to get away from that idea. Again, it's way nicer than my poor photography shows and has lots of brown and caramel highlights.

Likewise with this 4 way stretch fabric. I love the colours so much and I really want to wear it, but I don't know what to make from it. Perhaps the middle dress on the DKNY pattern?

All three of these fabrics are sitting on the sofa in my sewing room and I can't put them away, I keep picking them up and draping them over my shoulders. I hope inspiration comes soon.

Apropos of nothing, here is a shot of Molly as she slept on the spare bed today while I was sewing. She went to the beach at 5am when Grant went for an early surf, had several big swims and then a long run. At 9am she went to the gym with me where she played with her boyfriend Herbi (my trainer's dog) and three other gym dogs. She had another run on the way home after that and then this afternoon she went out with Grant again and had another long run home.

She's a little tired.

Flooded in again ...

2010-05-04T14:23:00.003+10:00

In an unseasonal downpour I find myself flooded in. You would think I would be sewing but, no, I'm not. I spent several hours watching episodes of Jeeves and Wooster on DVD before finally coercing Grant into taking his SWAP pictures, which will be seen in the fullness of time.

I did, however, sew last weekend although only one garment as we had a family lunch on Sunday that took over my day. To wear to that lunch I made this dress.

It's my TNT sheath based on Vogue 8146. I squeezed this out of a generous yard and as you can see from the picture, there was very little fabric left.

I have many things cut out and I will be doing some more sewing later in the week but today I don't have the focus for it.

On Sunday after the family lunch I stopped into Fantazia Fabricland in Tweed Heads and made some random purchases that have made me wonder what was going on in my head at the time. I purchased a crimson burnout fabric that I have no idea what to do with, a leopard print that I like a lot and can only see made up into a cliched safari style dress and a strange orange, yellow and brown stretch cotton. I have purchased some lusciois caramel and beige rayon knit that I can't wait to wear. Maybe I should go down to my sewing room after all ...

Long weekend sewing

2010-04-26T17:50:00.002+10:00

I've officially finished my SWAPs, save for one button and some pressing. The photos will have to wait until next weekend as I don't want to look at those garments any more.

This weekend I moved on to some other sewing. I spent a whole day tracing patterns and cutting out, so you'll see some of these fabrics a few more times.

First up is BWOF 05-2009-103 dress. I've made this before and it's a no brainer. This time, however, I self faced the bodice rather than just hem. it gives the neckline a much nicer shape. The fabric is a rayon jersey from Fabric.com that I got for $1.95 a yard. This is one of the cheapest dresses I've made in a while. The yellow in this dress matches exactly the yellow wool I used to knit this cardigan a while ago. Serendipitous, considering they were purchased 10 years apart!

Next up I made this skirt, which is BWOF 12-2009-112. I was on the lookout for a simple skirt that was a little more interesting than my usual pencil skirt and as I'd already cut out two high waisted skirts on the same day, I thought I'd try this. It's a really simple skirt to make and is way more flattering than I expected. I'll probably make it again in a better fabric. This is a remnant of a poly suiting I bought many years ago. It was expensive and wears well (I made pants from it years ago) but I don't like the way it feels. I didn't line this skirt because I was lazy, but I have a slip to go under it.

At the same time as I bought this grey suiting, I also bought 4meters of what I think is a wool/poly blend menswear suiting. These came from Fine Wools Direct when they were still in operation and are really love fabrics. I've cut quite a few garments from the wool blend. First of all us these pants, which are BWOF 05-2007-112. I think I may have struck gold! They fit straight up! I spent a lot of time looking at my rear end in the mirror and as far as I can tell, there are no weird wrinkles anywhere. Of course, I have yet to finish them; they aren't hemmed, there are no buttons and as you can tell, they aren't pressed. But I'm cautiously optimisitic. If they aren't a perfect fit, they're not too far off it. I've cut a high waisted skirt and a vest from this same fabric. You can't see it, but they fabric is largely black, with a bright blue thread through it. I'll try and get better photos next garment.

Last garment of the day is another Kwik Sew 3338. I bought two yards of this fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics and I've also cut a dress from an OOP DKNY Vogue pattern. I don't normally wear blue, but something about this fabric caught my eye. It's brighter than it appears here.

What was I thinking ... again?

2010-04-19T17:35:00.003+10:00

This is a work-in-progress shot of my coat. It's even more wrinkled than before. All I need to do is hem the lining and attach it with little bar things, sew the button on and press the life out of it. At the moment it just looks like a sack. I'm not feeling the love, but maybe after I've finished wrestling with it I might grow to like it a little. I have learned something interesting with this project; do not mix faux leather with other fabrics. Ever.

Unofficial month of tops ...

2010-04-10T17:58:00.003+10:00

Whilst I didn't officially join Faye's Month of Tops because I haven't finished my SWAPs and I really need to concentrate on those ... I found myself fondling some SWAP garment remnants that just hadn't made it back into the cupboard. Monday night I cut these out while I watched television. It really makes a diference having loads of things cut out and ready to sew.

This is Kwik Sew 3338 with short sleeves in extra small. I sewed this up before I went to the gym this morning.

This is also KS 3338, exactly as above. I sewed this one when I came home at lunch time.

This final one is BWOF 05-2008-103 top, but with the symmetrical drape of 104 dress because I liked it better than the assymetric drape of the top. The buckle is shell and I'm not sure where I got it from, most likely the op shop.

While the first two are inoffensive tops that will see lots of wear at this time of year, I'm not feeling the love with the last one. I'll try it on again in the morning when I'm not hot and sweaty and just a little bit grumpy. It's supposed to be autumn and it was still around 32 degrees celsius today. Tomorrow I get to work on the faux leather bound buttonhole ...

Buttons and more ...

2010-04-06T17:33:00.002+10:00

I finished my black and white boucle skirt yesterday. It's a very old New Look pattern that I bought at the op shop easily 8 years ago. It has three styles, including an inverted box pleat, or this one, which has 6 gores. There are no darts, the back and front side gores have gentle curves that make this sit perfectly. There are about 8 sizes in the envelope as as this was pre-loved, someone had cut them all out, which meant that when I cut this out earlier in the year I managed to cut the waistband from a size smaller than I actually needed.

So I improvised by sewing a black tab and button on the inside. Not the greatest fix, but at least it's wearable. This is See the World in Black and White boucle from Gorgeous fabrics and there is still a jacket to come. I made a sheath from the same fabric for my SWAP.

Today I bought some buttons for my coat. The left one is the one I wanted, a large concave matte black button. The second one I bought just because it was interesting, even though I am sure I will stick with my original plan. The bound buttonhole will be black faux leather and the inside collar stand is black faux leather. Still not sure about the tabs on the sleeves.

Here's a close up of the second button. It's clear resin with lace set into it. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but the right project will present itself in the fullness of time.

Quick fix ...

2010-04-05T10:57:00.002+10:00

This is Vogue 8604, made for some quick satisfaction. I made this to go with the Style high waisted skirt I made a while ago (seen here rescued from the laundry basket for this photo). They are a little matchy matchy alone, but with a vibrant top underneath, it will look OK. I like the jacket with a black long sleeve t shirt over jeans for a relaxed weekend look.

The black buttons I picked for my white coat turned out to be navy blue in the cold light of day. Very obviously navy blue. I need better lighting in my sewing room. As I am making bound buttonholes, I can progress no further until I visit the store and buy buttons tomorrow.

Fortunately, I have several things cut out and ready to go and I made this last night after I got home from a torturous easter lunch. Today I am making a skirt, which will go straight into heavy rotation as work wear.

Sunday sewing ...

2010-04-04T08:22:00.003+10:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I am working on my final SWAP garment. Originally I had a red frock coat planned, but the red of the coat fabric is too orange compared to the red Vogue dress, so I went for plan B. Last winter I cut out a winter white wool coat to go with my vanilla choc orange theme and never got around to making it. I pulled it out on Friday and got started. It's BWOF 09-2007-104 coat. I made the jacket version of this a couple of years ago and I love the swingy, retro feel it has. When I sewed the shell, it looked so WHITE and lab coat like, so I started messing around with buttons to see if I could bring it to life.

Here it is with some red buttons I'm dying to use for something. Not convinced about this.
Here is it with some lovely square white buttons I found at the op shop for 50c. Way too boring.

I like the idea of one big button and I've seen a very large red one at my local fabric store. This is the largest button in my stash and it's a pinky orange and still too small, but you get the idea.

Then I pulled out these black ones. They came in a 1kg bag of buttons I bought from All Buttons Great and Small in Sydney. Every time I go there I buy a bag in another colour. I painstakingly sort them out and find some real gems in there. So many buttons I've used in recent years are buttons I would never have bought, but they turn out to be the absolute perfect choice. These are like large daisies and complete the retro look. I even have a couple of smaller ones I might put on the sleeves.

While I was contemplating this combination and thinking about bound buttonholes, I realised I have no idea where the scraps of this wool are as I cut it out a year ago. My eyes lighted on a length of black faux leather that was sitting on the bed (leftover from a costume I made for a party). I'm going to do the buttonholes in black faux leather. I've also cut an inner collar stand from the same faux leather. I may also add tabs on the sleeves, but I'll see how it looks once the buttonholes are done. I'm not entirely in love with this project yet, but once the collar goes on I may feel differently.

Shannon posted a lovely shot of Simon on her blog, so I thought I'd give a you a shot of Molly asleep on the floor yesterday afternoon. She was right next to where I was cutting out the striped shirt and I had to step over her all afternoon. Molly's mother was a lemon beagle and it seems that they like to sleep on their backs.

Bradmill shirt ...

2010-04-03T22:23:00.003+11:00

From this very old and very soft 70's era sheet

came this shirt.

After seeing all the magnificent things that Peter has made from sheets, I thought I'd give it a go myself. I found this sheet for $1 at the op shop and as the colours blend perfectly with Grant's SWAP, I decided to make a last minute substition and make this. Buttons and thread are from stash (buttons 20c at the op shop) and as I have enough sheet left for another shirt, it was a very cost effective exercise. Thank you, Peter, for the inspiration!

When I was cutting it out this morning, I noticed this cute little label. It's a Bradmill sheet, made in Australia. The label has a B on one side and Bradmill on the other.

I decided it would make for a touch of irony if I stitched the label back into the seam, like some designers do. You can see it sticking out in the first picture.

I've also sewed the shell of my final SWAP coat, but it's late and I'm tired so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for those pics to upload.

Happy Easter to you all and NSW residents remember that daylight saving ends tonight.

Vogue 2899

2010-04-02T14:14:00.003+11:00

I finished this last night. I haven't pressed it yet as I'm thinking of shifting the position of the drape, but otherwise I'm very happy with how this turned out. I thought it was a really complicated pattern, but it was actually very easy to put together. There is a concealed strap under the front drape which affects the way it sits in the back. This is the first time I've put a zipper in a knit and that went fine. I cut a size 8 because my pattern only went up to that size and I was worried it would be too tight, but it actually fits perfectly, making me wonder if I should be cutting an 8 in all Vogues patterns. It would certainly explain why the tops are always too big. The hip ruching that I thought would make me look fat is actually very, very flattering. As always, it doesn't look very flattering on Vera and it really does need a good press. Next up is my final SWAP garment.

White and red ...

2010-03-28T18:44:00.003+11:00

I finished the white dress this morning. It fits me better than Vera and I'm beginning to realise how useless she is. If I can talk someone in to helping me, I think I need a duct tape dummy. Overall, I'm happy with this dress. The seaming all matches and I'm very pleased with my work. As I mentioned yesterday, I ignored the instructions and did this my way, resulting in perfect machine inserted lining and not one stitch of handsewing. Of course, that's not including my embroidery and beading. Despite all the wrinkles on Vera, it actually fits me pretty well. I cut a straight size 10, with no alterations, so it's surprising it fits so well. After a wash and a press, this will probably go into rotation as a work dress. It doesn't have the 'sexy' I was after.

Here's a close up of the bodice. I had actually planned a detailed red and black design based on a piece of traditional art from the Gitskan people of the Pacific Northwest (USA). My inspiration was this frog image. I absolutely love art from this region and I even had a wedding ring carved in a design of this style (a wolf).

On Friday I was looking through an old BWOF (I think May 08) for a dress pattern and I saw an article about sashiko. It showed a blue on white checked design in simple running stitch and in that instant I changed my mind. I drove down to Moo Moo Stitches with an image of a pearlescent thread and lo and behold, they had exactly what I wanted. While I was waiting to pay, I noticed a clearance bin full of beads. There was one lonely vial white opalescent beads. This design was born.

So, what did I learn in making this dress? My hips are higher and squarer than normal people. My sewing room is dirtier than I think. If you plan to make a garment with stretch fabric, then muslin it with stretch fabric (it's too big). Cap sleeves do not suit me. I still love sateen.

Disappointed that I didn't get 'sexy', I started on this.

It's Vogue 2899 ( well, part of the front anyway) that I've had in my queue for just over a year and is proof that I am barking mad. I need one more dress to finish my SWAP. I had planned a black tropical wool dress from a pattern that is muslined and ready to go. With a month to go, I have four garments to finish both mine and Grant's SWAPs. It's lunacy that I am substituting a completely unfitted and very complicated dress.

This lightweight red rayon jersey was bought for $1.95 a yard from Fabric.com recently. You'll probably see Kathi make something in this same fabric soon, as we seem to keep buying the same fabrics. I'd originally planned a wrap dress for summer but as often happens with me, the fabric and the pattern were near each other and I was looking for something 'sexy' and it just sorta happened. Given what I said earlier about my high square hips, perhaps I should not be making a dress with gathers in that very area, but we've already established that I'm nuts. To make matters worse, I decided just now that I would like to wear this on Thursday night as I'm going to Brisbane to see Lyle Lovett. We shall see.

Apropos of nothing, this is my new favourite notion. I bought this about a year ago at Lincraft in Brisbane (which I think has gone now) and only just used it this week. The worst part about jeans making for me is the belt loops. If you can turn a stiff denim tube, I'd like to know how you do it. I usually overlock one side and fold the fabric into thirds, then topstitch. With this stuff, I overlocked on side as usual, then fold the raw side in one third. I ironed this tape on, then peeled off the paper, folded the other side down and pressed. Perfect! I have seen someone make beltloops faced with a different fabric (the same as he used for the pockets). I think it was Brian of Brian Sews. Next time I make jeans I will try that. It's time for dinner and then I might just make it back down to my sewing room to work on that dress.

Seriously, what was I thinking?

2010-03-27T19:11:00.002+11:00

This is Vogue 8594. I love the dress, I've muslined it and it fits perfectly. The fabric is my beloved sateen and my work is very good. Why did I choose white? I don't wear white. I thought I could. It's just so WHITE.

You probably can't see the detail, but the bodice is embroidered and beaded. I'd planned something entirely different and then this just came into my head and before I knew what I was doing I was buying white pearlescent embroidery thread and white pearlescent beads. On a WHITE dress.

Maybe when I should stop worrying until I finish it tomorrow.

While I'm complaining, though, I will whinge about pattern instructions. I read the instructions for this dress twice and then put them carefully back in the envelope. Why do pattern companies persist in telling us to do so much handsewing when I can completely insert this lining by machine?

Come back tomorrow and see how it turns out. I'm going to drink some RED wine now.

The last pair of jeans ...

2010-03-26T18:39:00.003+11:00

I'm a little tired of sewing jeans. This is the last pair of pants for Grant's SWAP. I didn't get a decent shot before he packed them to take to Melbourne. The fabric that I used for the pocket bag and fly bit comes from a shirt I made when I first started sewing again in earnest about twelve years ago now. I paid $30 a metre and that was a lot more money then. The fabric has held up and the shirt was worn by me for two years before I lost weight and passed it onto a more boobified friend, who is still wearing it.

With the house to myself for four days I am doing a lot of things. Today I cut out the white sateen dress for my SWAP and started on the embellishment, which I hope to have finished tonight. I've traced a couple of patterns and I aim to muslin one more dress for my SWAP. Perhaps I shouldn't have left it to now to do that. I have a backup if it fails. More tomorrow.

Grant's Pants ...

2010-03-21T08:16:00.002+11:00

This weekend is all about Grant's pants. In his usual fashion, after saying how I needn't bother sewing for him becasuse he has plenty of clothes, he suddenly decided that he has nothing to wear. Grant is taking his 8 year old nephew, Enzo (his father is a Ferrari fan), to Melbourne for Formula One next weekend and now he needs a new wardrobe. These shorts are part of his SWAP as are the jeans I will make him today. I'm pretty happy with these, the pattern gets a little more refined each time I make them, although Grant insists there is something wrong with the pattern because his belly sticks out. You will notice that he never models his garments. I told him I need shots of him wearing them at the end of SWAP and that one comment has prompted a hasty return to the gym and an early morning surf every day this week. I once titled a post Vanit, Thy Name is Man ...

I used a quilting cotton for the pockets and fly thing and I used black satin binding on the waistband. The overlock thread seems a brilliant blue in this shot, but it actually matches quite well. After last weekend and the thread issues with my machine, I tried a few different threads. I bought a reel of denim thread just to see how it worked and I am complete convert. I didn't have a sample of fabric with me when I chose it and I fluked a perfect match. It's a Gutermann thread and I'm going to use it every time I sew denim now, the stitches just disappear. If they make it in larger reels I will buy it for overlocking next time.

I'm still on my mission to knit everything in my stash. These little beanies take about 1 and a quarter of a 50g ball of 8ply. The pattern came from Knitty.com Winter 2009 edition. I knit a lot of things from their website. if you're trying to get rid of small amounts of yarn they have loads of patterns for caps, scarves even headbands (as well as garment patterns).

This is the worst time of year in the subtropics. The weather man tells us that we will have several days of fine weather so I have opened the house, have all the dehumidifiers running and hopefully the house will stop smelling damp.

Slow day

2010-03-14T18:24:00.002+11:00

I've managed to do very little today. I did spend a lot of time avoiding the things I said I would do today. When I did sit down to sew Grant's shorts I realised I had bought the wrong size zip, so I moved on to the pockets on the back. Then my machine started playing up. It doesn't seem to like the thread I'm using. The thread I bought for topstitcvhing is fine, but it doesn't like the other one. These photos show the sum total of todays sewing. I got the front pockets done and here you can see the black and white quilting cotton I've used. The back pockets are one and I've topstitched in a pale grey. I tested a few colours, but this was the one I liked most. You can even see the green nail polish I decided to wear for St Patrick's Day.

Finally, just because I know my wildlife creeps people out, I thought I'd show you a phasmid who has been walking all over my sewing table today. I was worried I would squash him, so after an hour of nudging him out of my way repeatedly, I moved him to the other side of the room. This shot was taken as he made his way across the sofa and back towards my table. He's only a little one, about 15cm long. It's Sunday night and I'm back to the television for knitting in front of Collectors.

Still sewing SWAP ...

2010-03-13T20:35:00.002+11:00

This is Vogue 8489, which I managed to put together in half hour segments scattered throughout the week. It looks better on me than on Vera. Like most people on Pattern Review who made this dress, I left out the zipper. I cut a straight 10, but in hindsight I should have cut the 8. It's a little loose around the midsection. Everyone who has made this dress says how low cut it is, so I sewed the front bands together so that is covers my bra. It's still low, but at a point where I can wear it. The curved band droops a little low in the back, but I think it will be OK. it hangs quite nicely, but on me the band is neither at empire level or at my waist, but I think that's how it supposed to sit. I also frankenpatterned a different sleeve onto the sleeve head as I didn't like the length or shape of the original.

I should have more to show tomorrow ...

I have actually made some things ...

2010-03-08T18:37:00.004+11:00

This week during my television watching evenings I knitted this shrug. Sadly, my poor camera work does not show the pattern. There is a lovely chevron pattern knitted into it which points downwards, making this otherwise shapeless garment way more flattering than it appears here on Vera. It was knitted in one piece, folded in half and then stitched together at the sides. The really wonderful thing about this is that the yarn (a totally acrylic ribbon type yarn) came from a top I bought easily 12 years ago and never ever wore. A few months ago I decided to un ravel it and roll it into balls. I found this free pattern on the internet somewhere (I think it was the Unicorn website) and miraculously the two ended up in the same part of the room at the same time, telling me that they should join forces and become this.

This afternoon when I came home from work I decided to work on some of the things I cut out last weekend. This jacket is from Vogue 1020. I never thought I would make this jacket, but another serendipitous moment brought the fabric and pattern together. Originally I had purchased this cotton knit for a wrap dress, but it has a crisper hand than I had realised. The Vogue pattern just happened to be there as I unpacked the box and I knew it would work for this fabric. I'm not sure I will wear it tied up, but as an alternative to a cardigan it is perfect to slip on over a dress or top at this time of year. It's fairly fitted across the shoulders and because it is crisp, it wears more like a jacket than a knit top, so it is great for work. I can see this becoming a staple this autumn. I may even slip this into my SWAP instead of the red coat I had planned.

Next up I have to finish pants for Grant's SWAP. All I have to do for him is make two more pairs of pants and a jacket (which I still haven't muslined). My SWAP needs more work (ie 4 dresses and a coat). It's going to be a busy 6 weeks!

What I've been up to ...

2010-02-28T16:49:00.004+11:00

I haven't done a lot of sewing this weekend, but I have cut a lot of things out. In fact, this weekend my focus has been on cutting out things from leftover SWAP fabric. I've had a pile of leftover fabric sitting on the bed in my sewing room because I didn't want to put it away while my memory of how the fabric handled was still clear. I cut a cropped jacket out of leftover red fabric, I cut black trim from an old dress to finish a SWAP garment, I cut another totally unplanned knit jacket because I wanted to get rid of the fabric and I cut three summer tops out of leftover knits. The one thing that was from new fabric was a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts for Grant's SWAP. It's a good thing that neither of us are particularly tall because I managed to get a both of these garments from 2m of denim. This is all that's left.

Another task I completed today was to finish a cardigan I've been knitting. On top of an enormous fabric stash I also have an embarrassingly large knitting yarn stash. I have decided to just knit it all. There's not a lot of call for knitwear in the subtropics. Fortunately I know a few ladies who have had babies recently, so they have all received knitted gifts. I get a lot of satisfaction from these garments as they have all been knit during the evenings when I watch television, ie time that is otherwise wasted. This one, however, I am particularly fond of.

It's from a Jo Sharp book called Knit Issue 1 and was published in 2006. I've made a few things from it before, but I haven't loved them the way I love this cardi. The pattern is in two lengths and I made the shorter one but in retrospect, if I'd known how much wool would be left, I'd have made the longer one. It has lovely shaping so it conforms to the body to avoid that frumpy look cardigans can sometimes give. The pattern called for alpaca which is probably closer to 8ply, but this is 5ply washable wool (Sunflower) from the Bendigo Woollen Mills and has produced a wonderfully soft and comfortable garment. A large percentage of my stash is from Bendigo Woollen Mills, so you'll be seeing more of it. I love their yarns because they come in 200g balls. The entire back and both fronts came from one ball, the sleeves and most of the collar came from another.

A few weeks ago when I posted the picture of the snake in my drawer, I was so delighted with the various reactions that I thought I would show you another creature who appeared this morning.

I have never seen one of these anywhere on my property before, so how it came to be in the house and inside a lamp is a mystery. I had to pull out a reptile identification book to find out what it was. Apparently, this very relaxed and unstressed visitor is a pink tongued lizard. He flashed his very pink tongue at me to confirm this, but I wasn't quick enough to photograph that. For Australian readers, this lizard is a close (but much smaller) relative of the wonderful blue tongue lizard. Now if I had the right camera I might be able to get a quick snap of the insectivorous bat that flies through my tv room every night ...

Another skirt

2010-02-19T18:50:00.004+11:00

I made another of the Style high waisted skirts. It's in abstract puffs woven, leftover from my dress. I'm not sure if this will be part of my SWAP or just an addition to my wardrobe.

I actually made this last weekend, but hadn't hemmed it as I've been feeling pretty poorly all week. Friday afternoon gave me a lease of life and I hemmed it today after work. There's not much to say that I didn't say last time, although having worn the red one to work again this week, I may lengthen the facing next time for comfort and neatness as the facing ends at my natural waist and creates a fold when I sit. RuthieK says she has this pattern and to you, Ruthie, and anyone else who has this pattern, I would highly recommend it. I am hippy, the only thing I inherited from my Italian ancestors was round hips, so normally I would stay away from something that emphasised the difference between my waist and my hips, but this skirt is suprisingly flattering and it makes me feel kinda sexy, in a naughty secretary way.

I realised I have no summer black tops anymore (a victim of wardrobe culling) so I need some black knit and possibly even white to wear with this.

Boring sewing ...

2010-02-14T09:11:00.003+11:00

Yesterday kbenco wrote a wonderful post entitled Boring Sewing and Why I Do It. It's a great post, so go and have a look. The ironic thing for me was that I read it at a time when I was having a cup of tea, reading blogs and avoiding going to my sewing room to do some boring sewing of my own.

Sitting on my table, next to the machines threaded with the appropriate colours, was a pair of jeans for Grant's SWAP that I have been avoiding all week. The colour is boring and I have made this same pattern 5 times in recent weeks. Just like the shirt I made him last weekend. I have made that same pattern 8 times in the past two months. I can do both of them in my sleep. As kbenco said so eloquently, these are things you do for your loved ones and it's part and parcel of a successful relationship. I believe that when we use our skills to make things for others, we are expressing our love for them. I was sick this week and because my bloke is someone who doesn't know how to handle illness, he cared for me the way he knew best. He cooked me a spicy mussel soup.

So, in return I went down to my sewing room and finished his jeans.

This is a Kwik Sew jeans patterns, altered slightly. I've narrowed the legs and shortened the rise at the front by about 3cm. The fabric came from deep, deep within my stash and it's been there so long, I don't remember where I got it or why I bought it. I suspect it came from Fine Wools Direct, when they were still in operation, so it's pretty old. It's a twill weave, like a drill, I think it is wool. It's very thick and the inside is fluffy like thin fleece. It has some stretch, too, so it remains to be seen how well they wear. Grant says they will be perfect for riding his motorcycle in winter.To make them a little less boring, I used a scrap of quilting cotton for the pockets. I bought this at the op shop for 20c and it was just the perfect size to get two pockets out of. I bound the inside of the waistband with leftover bias tape I made from a 70's print cotton that I used for a dress and a top.

I only have a pair of shorts, a shirt and a jacket left to make for Grant's SWAP.

The highlight of my week so far has been this little purchase. I have wanted a press for a long time, but not enough to pay $400 or so for one. I wandered into a local second hand furniture place the other day (where nearly all my furniture has come from) and saw this. From the other items in the store that day, I suspect they has bought a deceased estate. I warily asked how much they wanted for this little baby, desperately hoping it would around $100. When the reply was $39, I had my money out in light speed. Now this is an old model, but it works. No longer will have spend hours fusing interfacing to entire jacket front with an iron. I used it yesterday for the jeans waistband and it work a treat. Don't know if I'll ever actually iron garments with it, but for sewing it is perfect!

2010-02-08T11:30:00.002+11:00

Sewing has been a little unsatisfactory this weekend. I finished the last of Grant's long sleeve shirts. This one was made with a fabric called Basketry in Milan from Gorgeous Fabrics. This is a lovely heavy weight cotton that is perfect for winter in the subtropics. Sewing it in summer, however, has been hideous. It's hot sitting on my lap to start with then the heavens opened and we had 200mm of rain in one day. This made the fabric limp as soggy lettuce, making it stretch and warp as I sewed it. I had the dehumidifier pumping right beside me, but I couldn't get the humidity down below 80%. I finally hemmed it on Sunday afternoon and put the buttons on last night. He'll enjoy wearing it in winter as it's the most wonderfully soft and cosy fabric.

I sewed up KS 3658 this morning and I am very happy. I've made this as a dress before and I debated as to whether to make a dress or top with this fabric. I kind of wish I'd made the dress, but I love the top anyway. I will have to redo the hem because my machine is playing up and it did not like the twin needle. Have a look at the closeup on the right. I'm very happy with my pattern matching, you can barely see the seam down the middle.

This week I have to cut out the last of my SWAP, but the end is in sight for Grant's. I only have two pairs of pants and a shirt to go for him.

Another one ...

2010-02-03T09:48:00.003+11:00

I made this top last night. It is Kwik Sew 3338 with the self drafted cowl neck variation that was detailed in Australian Stitches last year. I make this pattern a lot, both as a regular round neck t and also with this cowl addition. It's saved me from having to buy another pattern. I've matched the side seams as best I can, but it's hard to get it exact with a shaped side seam. The fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics, the You Look Marvelous print and was a dream to work with. I have enough for a sleeveless top, too. I forgot to mention yesterday's fabric which is the Lady in Red Matte jersey, also from Gorgeous Fabrics. Although it's a matte, it has a slight sheen, which is beautiful. It has a lovely weight, sews perfectly and would work really well as a dress. I'm thinking of getting more for a red wrap dress.

I've got one more SWAP top to make, then it's back to the dresses. I've saved the hardest stuff till last!

This is why I cut things out in advance ...

2010-02-01T18:53:00.003+11:00

I knocked this top out this afternoon when I came home from work and was finished in time for dinner at 7pm. It's Vogue 1020 and I've made this pattern as a dress twice before, but decided to give it a whirl as a top. I twin needled the neckline over clear elastic and the sleeves and bottom hem are twin needled. Like most people who make this pattern, I have left out the zipper. This will get a lot of wear come winter.

This weekend

2010-01-31T19:11:00.003+11:00

I've had a fairly productive weekend, sewing wise. First up is another shirt for Grant's SWAP. It's a long sleeved, collared versiono of his TNT BWOF shirt. There are no buttons as yet as my stash yielded nothing that worked with the style or colour. It will be the first time in a long while that I've actually had to buy buttons. The second picture is a closeup of the cuff placket with a little machine embroidery detail. Once the buttonholes are done there will be more embroidery on the front button placket.

I made myself a skirt from this Style pattern I bought at the op shop for 20c.

It's dated 1991 but to my mind is pretty timeless. The jacket has no shoulder pads and is quite fitted. The highwaisted skirt style is very similar to another Vogue pattern I bought last year. I've never used Style before and I know nothing about them, but this pattern fits like a glove straight from the pack.

My photography is a little crappy so you can't see the kick pleat, but it's there. I like this skirt so much that I have even cut out another one already this afternoon. It is a very flattering style for me. I will probably wear it to work tomorrow with my black and red linen blouse.

Technically, this isn't part of my SWAP. As I seem to have way more than the required 11 garments, I have decided to just keep sewing and pick the 11 that work together best at the end. To that end, I have cut out another three tops, one dress and one skirt this afternoon. I did plan to cut a jacket as well, but the fabric wasn't dry, so I drank some champagne instead.

What would you use this sewing notion for?

2010-01-26T13:02:00.003+11:00

I went downstairs to my sewing room to press my black skirt. I couldn't find my pressing cloth in its usual place, so I started opening all the drawers in my sewing desk to see if I had inadvertently put it away. This is the drawer that holds shoulder pads and large chunky zips, so I don't open it very often.

This is a brown tree snake, commonly known as a night tiger. They won't kill you, but their venom packs a punch, so children, the elderly or people with weak hearts will get pretty sick. The picture doesn't do him justice as they are the most lovely shimmery bronze with a salmon coloured, very glossy belly. Whilst I have no fear of snakes and will happily pick them up and move them, finding this one in my sewing desk made me jump. I have loads of these all over the house, but I have never found one in a cupboard before. As I haven't opened this drawer for ages, I don't know if he is a new resident or if he comes here often. I shut the drawer and left him in peace.

I fixed it ...

2010-01-25T07:11:00.002+11:00

I fixed the neckline on my Enid Gilchrist dress. Although it still stands away from the dress form, on me it sits flat. I've but a button on the back and pressed it since I took these pictures and all in all I'm pretty happy with it. I don't LOVE the dress the same was as I love the fabric, but it fits and is a nice addition to my summer wardrobe. I'm going to wear it to work today.

Next up I got to work in the black skirt that is so desperately needed in my wardrobe. It's Vogue 8426 View C. I've made View A before but I decided to make the long version with the kick pleats because I like the look of longer skirts with boots in winter. This is a serious step outside my comfort zone. I have never in 47 years worn skirts longer than my knees and although I can still wear short skirts, something has clicked over in my brain and made me realise how close 50 is. It's time to start covering up.

This hasn't been pressed or hemmed yet as I left it to drop overnight. The fabric nearly drove me to distraction. I have no idea what it is. I bought about 4m of it at the op shop for $4. It's polyester something and has a crepey weave. It's heavy and doesn't crush easily but when you apply a clapper to a crease, it holds perfectly, making it the ideal fabric for this skirt. The fabric was very hard to cut and I'm sure has blunted my scissors, plus it slipped all over the place. It's even hard to get a pin through it. It's ravelly like a crepe, so I overlocked all the raw edges before sewing and it behaved perfectly. It's the sort of fabric that if I saw a RTW skirt in it I'd buy it, but if I saw a roll of it in a fabric store I'd run like hell. Overall, I'm thrilled with the skirt, the fabric has the perfect weight and movement and the fit is great (size 10 straight out of the pack) but I'm glad the sewing is over. Yesterday it was 41 degrees celsius and trying this on when I was sticky and hot was very unpleasant. You can see Molly in the background laying on the floor. My sewing room is the coolest place in the house. I need to make a straight black skirt, too, but for my SWAP, I think this is perfect and will go really well with the knit tops I have planned.

Frustrating sewing days ...

2010-01-19T10:11:00.004+11:00

I had a frustrating weekend of sewing compounded by the fact that it was so hot I couldn't think. My house is normally very cool in summer, but this weekend was hotter than normal. My sewing room is under the house so it's the coolest place to be. Kbenco has a similarly styled Queenslander to mine. These houses are raised so that the cool breezes flow under and keep the temperature down, but when it gets this hot nothing helps. Last night I finished work at 8pm and it was 33 degrees celsius by the thermometer in my car.

But onto the sewing. I worked on another Enid Gilchrist dress. I drafted this pattern up a while ago and checked it against my TNT sheath but did not bother to make a muslin. I'm familiar enough with EG sizing to know what fits. The body of the dress fitted reasonably well, pretty much as I'd expected given these vintage patterns. I just needed to tweak it to fit my shape and it was fine. The one thing I didn't check was the shoulders. Dresses of this era were worn wider on the shoulders than I find comfortable. In fact, I find them downright restricting. I had to shave about 3cm off the armscye to get it anywhere near comfortable. The collar thing didn't work at all, so I took it off and recut the neckline to a lower shape. I basted the collar on and found it damn near choked me, so I took it off and cut it in half. It still nearly choked me.

You might also be able to tell from the first shot that the collar is standing up away from the body. So I took it off again and walked away for the rest of the day. I've been pondering this since Sunday and have now decided to completely redraft the collar bit into a shape that actually works for my body. I will do that when I get home from work tonight.

This fabric is the abstract puffs woven from Gorgeous Fabrics and it is one of the most wonderful fabrics I have ever worn. It has an almost sateen finish and just the right amount of stretch for a fitted dress. I cut the black collar bit in a crepe back satin I had left over from another project which goes better in real life than in this picture. I've lined this in black silk because I still have about five miles of it. Hopefully I will have pictures of the finished dress in a day or two.

For those who are interested in these things, here is the page from the Enid Gilchrist book showing the design I drafted from. Take a look at the interesting darts on the front piece. Sadly, these design elements are completely lost in my busy fabric, but they actually are in the right place for me which doesn't happen very often.

SWAP sewing

2010-01-11T09:39:00.005+11:00

I got moving with some SWAP sewing this weekend. First up was my sheath dress. This is a quick and easy sew for me. It's rayon boucle from Gorgeous Fabrics and is fully lined with a black poly/silk lining that I have a whole roll of so I use a lot. I'm actually wearing this today and I think I should have stabilised the neck a little, but I'll see how it wears. The fabric is so nice on the body. There's a jacket and skirt to come from the same fabric, but it's not part of my SWAP so they can wait till winter. Then I made this black linen blouse. I think the pattern is KS3668. I've made this a few times now. The great thing about this top is that the fabric cost me 50c at the op shop, the binding cost 20c and the buttons were in my stash and probably originally came from the op shop too. Even the thread was stash. I had a 1000m reel of black that I bought years ago. Apart from my time, this top has cost less than $1. But I still hate linen.Then I started on some more bloke sewing. Of course, Vera doesn't quite fill out this shirt in the same way that Grant does. This will be the matched print entry for his SWAP. Below you can see how I managed to keep the pattern even and correct across the front. I cut the yoke on the diagonal. The lines meet the back of the shirt in the same place on each side, though it's hard to tell from this picture.

The sleeve pattern is matched to the body at the front notch. The pattern also matches underneath each sleeve in a perfect chevron that DH says is his favourite bit and he intends to walk around with his arms in the air to show it off. I forgot to photograph that, but perhaps he will model the shirt in this pose for the official end of SWAP pics??I matched the front yoke patterns with the lines nearest the collar because I thought the eye would go there naturally.I'm really happy with this shirt and DH loves it. He admitted he didn't like the fabric when I showed it to him, but understood the SWAP concept and was happy to wear it because it matched everything. Last night he told me it's have new favourite shirt and he can't wait for winter so he can wear it. This from a man who would rather be naked!

Pause for thought ...

2010-01-05T13:36:00.002+11:00

Whilst I haven't actually gotten around to sewing anything in 2010, I have been working. I spent the best part of two days cutting out fabrics, linings and interfacings. These boxes contain the remaining nine garments from Grant's SWAP and the first three of my SWAP, as well as two ring in garments which I managed to squeeze out and I thought I might as well cut whilst the fabric was on the table. I must have bought the magic 3 yards of black and white tweed from Gorgeous Fabrics because I managed to get a sheath dress, a jacket and a pencil skirt from this one length and I actually have enough left to make a handbag. I purchased all of the thread and notions yesterday. As my overlocker is currently threaded in black, I will start with the sheath dress. I've been reading everybody's 2009 wrap ups with great interest and I've found it rather inspiring. I wasn't going to do it, but I did. Here is my break down. What I'd like to know is why I never have anything to wear?

Me - 63 garments
Dresses 22
Knit tops 12
Blouses 14
Skirts 6
Jackets 4
Pants 2
Jeans 2
Shorts 1

Grant's - 15 garments
Pants 5
Shorts 3
Shirts 5
Sweatshirt 1
Trackpants 1

Gifts
Bathrobes 2
Vest 1
Bags 7

More bloke sewing ...

2009-12-28T19:19:00.003+11:00

These shorts are made from a Kwik Sew jeans pattern KS3504. I've made this pattern before so I know it fits. This time I've made shorts, so I just cut the pattern off. When DH gets home I'll get him to try them on so I can where to hem them. This is lovely chocolate brown denim from Gorgeous Fabrics and you will see full length jeans in the same fabric later on in the SWAP.I topstitched in the gold I used to make yesterdays shirt because it seemed to match. What I forgot to photograph is the pockets and fly shield which are in the same fabric as yesterdays shirt also. There was no design on the pockets so I made one up. I'm sure he'll find something about these pants he doesn't like ... he always does.

I'm rather pleased, though. I even used my second machine today. I had one loaded with the twin needle and topstitch thread and the other with the sewing up thread. It worked well, but I think I'll have to leave a pin holder and clippers at each machine in future to avoid looking around for them all the time. More soon.

SWAP begins ...

2009-12-27T22:06:00.004+11:00

I started on DH's SWAP yesterday and was off to a rollicking start with a wadder. This is KS3250 in some crappy fabric that has been lurking in my stash for many years. I'm not even going to hem it. The sack like shape of the shirt makes him look fat and short. I refuse to make this style again. This shirt is awful.I had better luck today with this shirt. It's the TNT shirt pattern which started its life as BWOF 03-2009-132. I chopped the sleeves down and made them short as well as leaving off the collar and just using the stand. It's a quilting cotton that sewed up wonderfully. Buttons and thread from stash. A men's shirt somehow doesn't sit right on a female dress form.Last up today I made this shirt for a colleague who leaves this week. She has admired a dress I made in the same fabric. I didn't have enough to make a dress so I made the fabric into a pattern that she has also admired. It's my favourite KS blouse at the moment and of course I can't remember the number. So far I've cut out about a third of DH's SWAP. He needs the clothes. More tomorrow ...

Seasons Greetings

2009-12-25T22:12:00.002+11:00

Wishing everyone a safe and happy christmas and a wonderful 2010

But wait, there's more ...

2009-12-23T19:22:00.005+11:00

Here's some more of my christmas gift sewing. This is a small clutch from a free pattern I downloaded from the Kwik Sew website this afternoon. It's so easy and quick to make.It goes with this bag which I made up in a hurry to fit these handles and hoped it would work out. It's not great, but it's OK. This is very hard to press curtain fabric. This is a halter top made from a Kwik Sew pattern I've had for a long time. Can't remember the number. This is all made from leftovers.

This is a slightly larger version of the same Kwik Sew clutch. I should've photographed the inside as it's lined with a really nice red satin.

This vintage pattern just happens to perfectly fit my brother-in-law, he of the unfortunate crotch placement fame.
So I made this vest for him. This is the only gift that is actually a request. He wanted a yellow vest, so he got a yellow vest. The piece of fantastic wool cost me 50c at the op shop about 5 years ago, the dark grey lining is from stash and I don't even remember buying it. I have a lot left. The buttons were purchased for a jacket earlier in the year and then I changed my mind. I would have to say that this goes close to being my favourite garment this year. The checks match, my understitching is even and the wool sits perfectly on the body. You can't tell from this picture but I cut the welt pocket on the bias.

The one thing I forgot to photograph is a pale blue shirt I made for DH's dad. I'll try and get a snap on christmas day as it has some really nice buttons I bought at the op shop for 20c and they make what is an otherwise plain blue shirt look something else.

Safe and happy christmas season to you all. I'm off to start the cooking now, I've been nominated to make dessert for 25 people!!!

In No Particular Order ...

2009-12-21T06:07:00.010+11:00

The completed dress.A pair of pants I made for DH - I'm very pleased with the pockets. It's his TNT pants pattern developed from a Kwik Sew front with slant pockets, a morphed BWOF back and BWOF slim legs.This is the inside of the waistband using a technique shown by Martyn Smith in Australian Stitches. It is a RTW method made easy for home sewing and makes a really wonderfully firm and neat waistband. I also made the pocket bags from the same fabric.
This is the first of many christmas gifts. A bag from a McCalls pattern which I don't have to hand to tell you the number. The pattern is for quilted fabric but I used canvas interfaced with a very stiff fusible. I'm still trying to get the wretched chalk marks off!This is the interior with a cute, loud lining I had leftover from a dress from many years ago. Another christmas bag, one again made from the free Hot Patterns Sumatra bag. I will never make this again - trying to jam those *&%^# handles into my sewing machine nearly did my head in. This is a curtain fabric I bought at a remnants sale the other day. It's quite thick. These are the recipients favourite colours.

This is the interior lined with a marble printed fabric remnant I found the other day. I love this fabric and wish there was a lot more. The third bag is made from a heavy knit with a sueded finish. I underlined with canvas for body. It is the Hot Patterns Slouchy Hobo bag and I love it! I have fabric to make one of these for myself from faux suede. The picture does not do it justice, it has a lovely shape to it.

The interior is lined with a quilting cotton that I don't love, but it matches. You can see my green nail polish here that I wore to match my pink and green dress.Here's the first bathrobe in the smallest size. It's a Kwik Sew pattern and I don't have the number with me. This was very easy sewing. I have already given this one and I am told that the recipient wore it to feed the chooks this morning!Here's a blue bathrobe in a larger size. I knocked two of these and a handbag out in one day, so they are pretty quick and easy.
Here's a t shirt I made in about five minutes. I was trawling through my stash looking for something to line the black bag in and I found this remnant (the remains of something from a thousand years ago). I don't like blue - I don't wear blue, but I know a lady who loves it. I stopped my searching and went straight to my TNT KwikSew t shirt pattern. This was cut and sewn up in under 40 minutes. The quickest, cheapest gift of all!

There are loads more, but it was taking forever to load the pictures so I stopped. More soon.

On the Magic Bus ...

2009-12-17T09:31:00.007+11:00

I have been sewing and I did make my dress - only just. I am so frantically busy and quite close to a nervous breakdown. Until I get it together to photograph what I've made (and there's a lot) I will show you the pictures of my staff Christmas party last weekend. As I mentioned last post, we took the Magic Bus to the Gold Coast races.

Here is the first picture of the day, when everyone still looked tidy.

Here is me in the middle with all the girls. This is the only shot I have of my dress at present and at this distance you can barely see the pink in it. In fact, it looks like a rather insipid brown.Here is all the boy staff. There were nine people who couldn't make it, so we were only a small group this day. Yes, we do have more female dentists than male. We've got a great team here and since this picture was taken I've employed another three staff this week.
Here's a shot enroute. Just below the people in this picture is a large esky full of champagne that was empty by the time we arrived at the races. I might add that I wasn't drinking it - I was one of three sober people on the day. You can also see that the incredible art work is inside the bus as well as out. We stayed upstairs for the whole trip. Here's the last shot of the night, taken on the way into Byron Bay. I ask you, would you trust any of these dentists to work on your teeth?

A couple of our colleagues who couldn't come to the races were playing in a band at the Great Northern in Byron, so Tim the Magic Bus driver took us in and dropped us off in time to see the last two songs. A good time was had by all, but I'm sure you've figured that out by now.

Can you see the difference ...

2009-12-02T07:41:00.008+11:00

This is version one

This is version two

Can you see the difference? If you can, which do you prefer? It's going to become this dress.

I know it's hard to tell from a photo and your monitor may show a very different colour. The fabric is silk chiffon that I bought about 7 years ago purely because I love the colours. At that time I never actually thought I would sew in chiffon, so I never expected to actually use this fabric. Faced with my staff christmas function, which is a visit to the races at the Gold Coast, travelling on this bus from Mullumbimby (yes I live in the hippy capital of Australia), I knew I needed a bright new dress to wear. The pink is a dark crimson and the green a deep olive.

Here is the lining used in the first shot

This is the lining used in the second shot.I'm unsure which I prefer and I'm unsure about accessories. I have found a good match for the pink, but I think maybe I'm a little old to dress like a lolly. I've seen a few olive shoes and I have a pair that will work in a pinch. I also have a ridiculous pair of silver shoes that will work if I don't find anything else. I have an olive bag and I actually have a large pink and green straw bag that matches. I even have the perfect olive sun hat.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

A quick fix

2009-11-29T14:38:00.003+11:00

It's nine squillion degrees here today and I officially TOO FAT to fit into any summer dresses, so I decided to make a new one. This is Vogue 8386 and the fabric is a lovely rayon jersey I bought at Fabric Fantazia in Nerang last year. I love the print, but never really knew what to make with it, but I like the way this has turned out.

I cut a straight 10, but should have cut an 8. I left out the zip and cut the back on the fold so I thought I might need the extra room. Consequently it's a little loose, but it's OK with the sash.

I can't say I love the dress, but it's a good addition to my wardrobe and it will be comfortable to wear tonight to the final evening on the Mullum Music Festival. It's only the second year this has been running and it's a great success. It's a bit like the Blues Festival used to be fifteen years ago before they started booking acts like REM and attracting a different audience and turning me off. (Having said that, I just noticed today that next year Lyle Lovett is playing, so I may revise my opinion come next Easter!) Last night I saw two incredible young Australian artists: Sal Kimber and the Rolling Wheel, a very interesting folk rock/indie/country ish artist with an amazing voice and an incredible girl drummer (which meant I liked them before they even starting playing). The second was Jordie Lane who I'd put in a similar category to Luka Bloom (he's the son of commedienne Denise Scott for you Aussies). I also saw Vulgargrad, purely because the name of the band and their description of themselves as vodka fuelled swinging ska punk gulag style amused me. If you've seen Moulin Rouge, you will recall the guy who performed a very guttural rendition of Roxanne - he's the lead singer of Vulgargrad.

Tonight I will be wearing my new dress to see M Jack Bee, who is young and handsome and I'm told can even sing, The Stetson Family, about whom I know nothing but I like their name. I'll be finishing off the night with Huckleberry Swedes, whose name is great but I think I like the idea of their electrified country rhythm and soul, whatever that might be!

Because he complained ...

2009-11-24T19:35:00.003+11:00

He's getting his own SWAP.

No tops today ...

2009-11-22T17:26:00.003+11:00

I got it into my head this weekend that I wanted to make a bag from a free pattern I downloaded and fix the fit on a Vogue pattern. I shoved aside the tops I had cut out to sew this weekend and made this.

It's the Hot Patterns Sumatra Shopper. I downloaded the pattern free from fabric.com ages ago with a view to making these for christmas presents. This fabric is a gorgeous cherry red canvas from Gorgeous Fabrics. The pattern calls for the pleated bit to be mounted onto canvas or the like, which I did. As my canvas was very sturdy I did not interface it, although I bought a roll of very stiff fusible interfacing for the purpose. The end result is a little softer than I would have liked. The bag is very easy to make, although wrestling the bamboo rings into place was a nightmare. Saturday afternoon I walked away while I was still sane and during the night came up with an alternative method to sew it all together. Today I've had this sucker jammed into both of my sewing machines so there was a lot of cursing, but I got there in the end. The topstitching is embarrassing and tomorrow I will buy some beads to sew around the bit where the handle is stitched on to cover my crappy sewing. My conclusion is this; the bags I make for gifts will be made from pretty quilting cottons. I will use the same canvas mount, but I will interface it for a stiffer bag, but only to the stitching line. I steamed and pressed the life out of these seams and they still won't sit flat, so I hope my new method will solve that. This bag goes into service tomorrow as my new gym bag. Oh, here's a bad shot of the interior which I lined with leftovers from a shirt I made about 7 years ago.

I've made Vogue 9668 several times before and while all versions are wearable, the fit has never been quite right During the week I tried on all the old versions and made some notes about why they didn't look right or felt uncomfortable. I dragged out the original pattern and put my traced version over it and found I had made a major cock up by making the front bodice piece about 3cm wider than it needed to be! No wonder I'd had trouble fitting it all together before! I retraced the bits I needed and altered them accordingly. As I was hoping to make a white version of this dress for SWAP and embellish the waistband, I was keen to get this right. I dragged out some old poly seersuckerish stuff that came from the op shop for 50c (no idea what it is, but its kinda stiff and totally see through as you can see).

The short version is this: I made this dress fit perfectly. Here is it without the lining in the skirt. Since this was taken I have inserted a black charmeuse lining and hemmed it with some wide lace I bought at the op in a mixed bag for $1. The dress is finished perfectly, fits perfectly and looks lovely. Except, of course, when I put it on. I have finally realised that the problem was not with the dress, it was with me. This is simply not my style. The nipped in waist points very blatanly to the fact that my waist is way smaller than my hips. And not in a good way. Even in slimming black this dress makes me look HUGE. I think it's the way the v neck and the shaped waistband all point to a narrow bit and them my hips blossom out from under there. I am very disappointed because I love this dress. I have to let it go and work on something else. I'm thinking it might be Vogue 8594. Or I might just make the tops I had planned.

I liked it so much I made another one ...

2009-11-15T17:59:00.003+11:00

The same Kwik Sew from last weekend. I made this from a scrap of fabric I bought at the op shop for $2. The bias binding I bought at the op shop for 35c and the buttons came from my stash, probably once purchased from the op shop although I can't remember for sure.

I didn't do much else this weekend, although I have cut out two dresses, traced two patterns and drafted another Enid Gilchrist pattern for my SWAP. I'm back to the drawing board now ...

The Tops of November ...

2009-11-08T16:11:00.005+11:00

With Saturday spent making a family lunch, I've only had one day of sewing this weekend. I had planned three tops, but I've only managed two as my indecisiveness stopped me from cutting out. The first on is KS3668 made from a cotton with spots of orange, tan and chocolate brown, although it's hard to tell from the picture. I bought this fabric to go with my choc vanilla orange wardrobe earlier in the year. When I had the fabric laid out I very nearly made the version with the sleeves, but this is definitely a cool summer cotton and needs to be sleeveless. I haven't sewn the buttons on or pressed it properly, but I quite like this so far. I lengthened it a little, but next time I will take it back to the pattern length.

Next up is a blouse I made from a vintage McCalls pattern I bought at the op shop a while ago. I bought this fabric to co-orodinate with my June Capsule but never got around to actually making it.I've always wanted a floaty tie neck blouse and I made this straight out of the envelope. The pattern says size 12 with a 34" bust, which has worked out perfectly. It's dated 1980, but it's pretty timeless and I'm sure I will use it again. The only thing wrong with this pattern was the instructions. It's a Palmer and Pletsch with instructions for making sewing quicker and easier (apparently). Instead of sewing in the order I normally would sew a blouse, it has you do a bunch of things at the same time so you press them all at once, therefore minimising the amount of time you are up and down to the ironing board. Jumping from one section to another was confusing. When it started talking about sewing the cuff on the sleeve at the same time as sewing the collar, I put the instructions aside and made it up, which resulted in my tie being left off rather than stitched on with the collar. Ah well, a separate scarf/tie might come in useful. I haven't decided buttons for this yet, so the buttonholes aren't done, but it fits well and I like the way this looks on.I've got a few other tops planned for the rest of the week, so I'm back to the cutting table.

SWAP 2010 & November Tops

2009-11-06T15:02:00.003+11:00

I've joined Faye's November Month of Tops Sewalong. As coincidence would have it, I read Faye's post about sewing tops the very day I had just removed at least 15 unwanted blouses and tops from my wardrobe, leaving a plethora of empty hangers and a dearth of things to wear.

I've been shuffling fabrics and patterns around, trying to sort out things to make for SWAP this year. I came across a lovely piece of black linen that I have no recollection of buying, although I think I know where I got it from. It's a beautiful weight and absolutely perfect for the subtropics. I did have a different pattern in mind, but then I discovered this one, which really appeals to me. Considering that I don't actually like ruffles, that's a bit of a surprise to me. I've decided to make the sleeveless version, but add the ruffle. I've decided to put the black linen aside for SWAP and make this out of a light cotton with orange and brown spots. I think this will be revisited a few times this summer.

I'm putting the black linen on hold until SWAP time.

There are several options for SWAP this year and I have chosen Option 3

5 dresses

4 tops

1 bottom

1 garment of your choice and I choose a coat

Of these 11 garments, one must be a matched print or stripe, one must feature embroidery or beads etc and one must have buttons as the feature or unusual/alternative closure.

My black linen blouse will feature some bold red and black buttons and perhaps red piping. I haven't finalised many of the patterns for SWAP, although my coat will be made from an Enid Gilchrist pattern drafted from the book I mentioned last post.

I aim to knock out three tops this weekend. I'll let you know how that goes ...

Pattern tracing

2009-11-01T19:54:00.004+11:00

During the August Wardrobe in a Week competition I made this dress.

It was from a pattern drafted from this book, which I bought at an op shop for 20c last year. For more information about who Enid Gilchrist is and the range of books she wrote, take a look at Tracy's blog, Inspired by Enid.

Although I found it interesting at the time, I didn't actually ever think I would draft a pattern from these instructions.

But I did and it was easy! From this shot you can see the dress that inspired mine.

Rather than sewing, this weekend I have drafted four patterns from this book from scratch. I've even muslined one of them. I won't bore you with pictures of my patterns or the ugly muslin, but I am rather proud of my achievements.

One pattern will be my Chanel inspired jacket. I am dedicating the next week to that project in a vague attempt to make the November 15 deadline. I will also use a lengthened version of the jacket for my SWAP. I also traced two dresses. For the basic dress there is a choice of sleeve lengths, a choice of necklines and two different dart placement styles. In coming weeks, I will show you more pictures from the book to give you an idea of how useful this 20c book is. In fact,I may never have to buy another pattern again!

The rest of my weekend has been taken up in altering a few patterns to make them TNTs. I've even frankenpatterned two pairs of pants into one for DH, so he now has a TNT pants and shirt pattern.

To round off my non sewing weekend, I placed a fabric order and will now spend the rest of my evening thinking about SWAP 2010.

The next dress ...

2009-10-25T18:47:00.005+11:00

With little sewing time this week I have only managed only meagre item. This dress is Vogue 1100, a wardrobe pattern I am not sure why I bought. I rather like the dress, though, and I may try the jacket come autumn.

This is another quilting cotton. The print looks a little Japanese to me. Like the last dress I made, I've lined this in cotton poplin, an olive green this time. On a recent episode of Project Runway, one of the judges asked a contestant what point there was in lining a dress in a bright colour because 'no one sees it'. Well, I disagree. I see the inside of my dress and I like seeing the lovely green inside. Of course, I did not think to photograph it. I altered the construction method so that the lining could be completely bagged and there was no handsewing at all. This has to be the neatest dress inside that I have ever made.

I'm almost ready to start my Chanel jacket. I think I've made a decision ...

In the meantime, when I was looking at the Vogue website today I saw this pattern that has captured my attention. It's a squillion degrees today and it's only going to get hotter, so why am I thinking of winter sewing???

In the meantime I made this ...

2009-10-19T18:57:00.003+11:00

I've been agonising over my Chanel jacket and still have not decided on the pattern, the lining or the trim. So I made this dress instead. It's Butterick 5277. I bought it for View C with the collar because it has a nice retro feel to it, but for a quick fix I made this version of View A.

It's a quilting cotton, lined with plain brown cotton poplin, because it's way too hot here for any other kind of lining plus I don't like the feel of silk on my skin. I muslined it first and used the tweaked muslin as the lining. It's a 10 going to a 12 at the hips as seems to be my standard for Butterick and Vogue. It fits really well but after wearing it all day today, I have to say that the sleeve caps make it a little restrictive, ie the whole dress lifts up when you raise your arms. Next time I would shorten them but about 1.5cm, maybe even 2cm and that will stop the problem. I'll compare them against a BWOF pattern of a similar style that doesn't cause the same problem. It's an easy sew and a good basic dress. I love the shape of the neckline, too.

I've been madly braiding all kinds of things for my Chanel jacket. This is a quick down and dirty from two strands each of 8ply knitting wool from my stash. The colours aren't right, but they're close enough to get an idea of how it would work as well as giving an indication as to the thickness of the braid. I like this look.
I then found some shiny cord at the local store and tried a few combinations. My braiding got worse and worse as I went on, so it's hard to tell.

In this sample I used a bright purple, a yellow (they had no lime green), a chocolate brown and a dark green that's a little too Christmasy, but it was enough to let me know to lose the brights and dim it down a little.

This sample has swapped the bright purple for a pale lavender, which I really like, but it's still not there.

Sorry about the blur - it's hard to tell, but this is pale lavender, pale mint green, bright green and chocolate brown. If I can find a more olive green, I think this might be a winning combination. Now I just need to decide between this satiny cord or a rough knitting yarn. Oh, and I need to pick a pattern.

This is how UFO's happen ...

2009-10-12T11:48:00.003+11:00

I've become obsessed with my Chanel jacket. I was up until very late last night reading the Claire Shaeffer book about couture sewing and I've spent a large part of the morning staring at my fabric. You will notice from yesterdays post that I have one unfinished jacket already and if you look in the background of those pictures you will see my previous jacket, also unfinished. It just needs hemming, buttons and bloody good press. I will finish the silk tweed today ... I want to wear it on Wednesday.

But back to Chanel .. I am quite keen to use the selvege as a trim and have been trying to think of a way to cover the white chain stitch. I think if I make a braid and stitch it down, it should work. I think using a purchased trim on this fabric wouldn't look right. I think the ruggedness of the fabric demands a more rugged and less perfect trim, if that makes any sense. I dragged out a box of embroidery thread and started tossing colours around. This is what I have so far. Three colours that I love and are all in the wool fabric. The middle is a dirty pale green and the lavender is dirtier than it appears in this picture. I quite like these muted colours, the dirty versions of their bright brothers and sisters. I was thinking a three strand braid in either this combination ...

Or a three strand braid in this combination ...

But I think this is my favourite combination; a four strand braid using all these colours ...Even though we don't have a decent fabric store for about 750km, we do have a very well stocked yarn store in Mullumbimby (The Silver Thread, unchanged for decades - if you're in the Northern Rivers area, take a look). I know I will be able to find these colours in a knitting cotton because the smoothness of that is what I am seeing in my mind. I'll test it and see how it looks.

I was originally planning buttons and starting to dread the search for something appropriate, but then I hit on the idea of hook and eye closure at the front as I have seen some others do. If I use the fringe of the selvege down the front, it will cover the hooks so you shouldn't see them when it is closed. Any thoughts or suggestions????

Jackets ...

2009-10-11T20:43:00.003+11:00

The silk tweed jacket just goes on and on ... I've spent the entire afternoon putting these bound buttonholes in. This fabric is so unravelly (is that a word?) that it was near impossible to get these even. They're in, but they're not my best work. I had planned to finish the lining and put the collar on today, but after this mammoth effort, I'm beat. If I were to make this again in a boucle, I would use leather for the buttonholes. I had considered a triangle of leather at the top of the pleat on the back, but I forgot about it until after I had sewn the buttonholes - it would have worked well. Here's how it looks from the front so far and the next one is the back. For a jacket with a big fold and lots of fabric, it actually is quite fitted when worn. Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow.

Next up is my Chanel Sew a long jacket. I'm considering this rough green wool.

It has flecks of yellow and blue and is quite a rough weave. It puts me in mind of army blankets, although the colour is much brighter. I am taken with the idea of such a coarse fabric sewn using couture techniques. I'll start hunting around for trim, but if anyone has a suggestion, I'd really like to hear it. I thought of using the selvege in some way, but it has a white chain stitch along it and it stands out a little too strongly. I have a green satin for lining, but I may change that if I find something more interesting. I've narrowed my pattern selection to these two. The Vogue on the right fits, but I will need to muslin the Simplicity on the left.

As always, I have so many plans and so little time ...

In case you wondered where I've been ...

2009-10-09T14:17:00.005+11:00

I was in Thailand, wearing all five pieces from the August Wardrobe in a Week competition. I added a chocolate brown silk jersey top I bought at the op shop for $3 and an orange a-line inverted pleat skirt I made from a scrap leftover from something else I made years ago. I slipped in three cardigans, one orange and one brown short sleeve cropped cardis that are perfect for slipping over things when the airconditioning is too cold, one long sleeved brown one for the plane because I am always cold on planes and a bikini, also orange and brown.

These small capsules are perfect for travel and I highly recommend this kind of wardrobe planning to anyone who has a trip coming up. It would be simple to extend this collection for a cooler climate and the wardrobe I sewed this past winter already works in the same way if I take a winter holiday.

As luck would have it, a few days before I was to leave I forgot to take shoes to work. I train every morning at 6am and usually shove my work clothes and shoes in a bag, but this day I just plain forget to add footwear, so I was left with nothing to put on my feet. So I bought some shoes. These wedges co-ordinate with everything I packed and were very comfortable. As it is currently wet season in Thailand, these shoes kept me out of any puddles I encountered and were comfortable to walk in all day. I took a pair of gold and brown heels and some brown flat sandals for the beach.

Before we left, DH decided he wanted a suave pool shirt, something reminiscent of the 60's. He quoted the pool scene from The Graduate as his inspiration. I knew what to do. The pattern is BWOF 04-2008-132. The fabric is ecru linen that I bought a while ago to make DH a shirt, but never got around to.

The trim is a strip of black bias tape and a length of ribbon with a fine black stripe, about four fine caramel coloured stripes and a few white stripes. This is the the first hidden placket I've sewn and I was surprised at how easy it was. Obvously, this looks better on a bloke than on Vera. It goes perfectly with some little swim trunks he bought himself and a cute little pork pie hat.

A parting shot ... these are the shoes I bought to go with the silk tweed dress and jacket. I just might have to go downstairs and finsih the jacket now!

Silk tweed ...

2009-09-21T08:37:00.002+10:00

Today I put this dress together. After the muslins I made last weekend I was fairly certain it would fit well and it does. I've ordered some shoes to go with this, so when they arrive and the jacket is finished I might just let you see them all together. My cheap camera really doesn't do this fabric justice; it is the perfect balance of caramel and cream, with a hint of pink and a hint of green. After trying this on in yesterdays heat, I am fairly certain I will find the weight of this silk tweed way too hot to wear in summer, so I'm going to have to sneak in a wear or three during spring. I'm glad I lined it in cotton! I'm disappointed that it look so ... blah ... on Vera because it is really lovely. When I first saw this fabric I instantly saw brown patent crocodile accessories and I have ordered the shoes, but I am on the hunt for a bag. Any suggestions for jewellery?? I started on the jacket yesterday. Here is is with the sleeves attached to the front and back, but without the side seams sewn or the collar on. Still looks a bit nothing.

Here's a back view of the jacket so far. The pleat hangs beautifully in this fabric. The pattern shows a bow at the top of the pleat, which I would normally consider a bit naff, but I think it will finish this perfectly. In fact, I was thinking of placing a smaller on at the top of the kick pleat at the back of the dress, but I will see once the jacket is finished.The jacket pattern is unlined, but I am lining it because the fabric needs the support. I usually choose loud, unmatched linings, but as this jacket will mostly be worn with the dress, I decided to use a more subtle lining. I've chosen a lovely gold satin, which I forgot to photograph, but will show you next time ...

What I've been up to ...

2009-09-13T18:47:00.003+10:00

I've been trying in vain to find time to post, but it hasn't happened, so tonight you get it all in one big one.

First up is Vogue 8593, the sort of copy of a Michelle Obama dress. The photo is not very good and certainly doesn't do the dress justice. It's made from red rayon doubleknit that was a dream to work with. It's a shame it's now way too hot to wear this dress because I really want to wear it.

I bought a new sewing machine. I decided I needed a second machine so that when I'm topstitching in a different colour, I don't have to keep threading and unthreading. Also, I like the idea of a spare machine in case my main stops working.

I found this on Ebay. It's a Husqvarna 6690, which I've just learned was the first embroidery machine to sew letters. It's from a deceased estate and was obviously very well loved and used. It came with four separate cartridges with loads more embroidery stitches than I will ever use. Sadly, there is no manual so I have yet to figure out how to use it for anything other than plain old sewing. If anyone has one of these, perhaps you can give me a few pointers.
The other great thing was that this machine came in its own Horn cabinet. I've seen these before but never used one. The drawers on the right are packed full of accessories, many more feet than I have for my current machine. There is also a very heavy and probably expensive pair of pinking shears, which was a delightful find as I was just about to buy a pair. There is also a drawer full of silk thread in many colours!

Oh, and the machine came with a hand quilted cover. This makes me feel connected to the lady who once owned this machine and clearly loved it.

Next up is Vogue 8146. I'm fairly close in size and proportion to Vogue patterns and I can usually make them with only a few alteretions to the pattern. When I traced the pattern for the dress, I used the finished measurements on the tissue and cut size 8 shoulders, 10 bust, 8 waist tapering out to somewhere closer to size 12 (I'm upping my training to five days a week!) than 10 for the hips. The first muslin was close to a perfect fit. I added about 1/2cm at the waist and the lowered the centre dart by about 2.5cm and the bust dart by 1cm. The second muslin fitted everywhere except the bust dart was still too high. Three muslins later, the bust dart was lowered a whole 2.5cm and fit perfectly. I persisted with this because I figured that this is a great TNT sheath pattern to have. I cut a straight size 8 for the jacket as it's loose fitting and should pose no problems.

Here are the skirt and jacket pieces cut and ready to go. It's a gorgeous silk tweed boucle from Gorgeous Fabrics that I've been eyeing for some time. It was hard to cut and the edges are very easy to unravel, so I overlocked every piece this afternoon. I'm sorry that the picture doesn't show how really lovely this fabric is.

I've decided to line it, although the pattern does not call for it. The loose boucle is likely to lose shape after a day of warm weather wearing. I didn't want to line it with rayon or silk because it will be too hot, so I've chosen a very delicate cotton batiste I had in my fabric collection.I pulled out some other fabric for this pattern. I figure that using this basic sheath I can experiment with necklines and make a whole range of great new summer dresses. I was in the mood to trace and experiment this afternoon but I realised, to my horror, that I am out of pattern trace AND tracing paper. It will have to wait until next weekend when my supplies are replenished. Until then I'll just have to sew.

Stick a fork in me ...

2009-08-30T18:35:00.003+10:00

Wardrobe in a Week is done!

Here is the Enid Gilchrist dress, front and back. I'll blog more about this pattern tomorrow.

Next up is the Ruby shorts with the top and overblouse. I've forgotten the numbers and I'm too lazy to look them up, but they are in last weeks post. Both tops are BWOF.
This one is shorts and top alone. You may be able to see the chocolate brown topstitching on the top. I've used the same buttons on the shorts and the blouse.

This is an extra I sneaked in. It's BWOF 06-2007-120.

It was almost Wardrobe in a Weekend ...

2009-08-23T20:41:00.005+10:00

This weekend has been spent sewing my Wardrobe in a Week. I started with these shorts, which are Burdastyle Ruby, downloaded free from their website. I've made them several times before, so these are pretty much TNT. I haven't sewn the buttons on yet, the hand sewing will all happen tonight watching TV. I have two whole series of Soap (is anyone old enought to remember that?) on DVD that I am working my way through.

Here's a detail shot showing the inside pocket in orange. The waistband facing and the button flap facings are all orange. I'll see if I can get a better shot of the buttons, because they are way nicer than they appear in this shot.

Next up is this top which is BWOF 06-2007-105 I think. At the last minute I decided to top stitch in chocolate brown to help tie these together. I'm not sure how well it shows up in this picture.

Here's a shot of the shorts and top together. I made some bias binding from leftovers of the 70's print fabric and have used it inside the top. No one will ever see it except me, but it helps this feel like a collection to me.

While I was threaded up with orange, I went onto making this blouse cum jacket thing from BWOF 05-2008-105. It doesn't have its buttons yet either, but they will be the same ones I used on the shorts. It needs a good press. It looks better on a human than on Vera.Last up I moved onto my Enid Gilchrist dress from this book. I'll blog more about this after WIAW because it is a real gem.Here's a shot of pattern page I used as well as the dress that inspired me.

Here's my version so far. I had to stop myself from doing any more and eat dinner before I cocked it up. I can't wait to get to it tomorrow night!

You ever had a near perfect sewing experience?

2009-08-16T16:37:00.002+10:00

And all I've done is baste the pleats in place! It's Vogue 8593 made from the most luscious double knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. As soon as I unpacked I loved it and I have plenty left for other things.
In the meantime, here is my preparation for the August Wardrobe in a Week. I'm all ready to start sewing as soon as the day rolls round. I hope we have no visitors who want to sleep in the spare bed this week!