Sew, I've Been Thinking ...

This dress started life as NL6000 which has been in my collection for a while.    I was inspired by Rhinestones and Telephones Franken Pattern Pledge earlier this year to finally get to grips with patterns and fabric that have languished in my stash for some time and so this was a great place to start.  So many others have made this dress and it really is a great pattern.  Except for the sleeves.  I don't like 3/4 sleeves at the best of times, but I loathe them when they have these stupid cuffs and buttons that look like wings.  No problem; I can Franken Pattern.  I blended the sleeve from M5466  (also previously unused) with the original sleeve and therein lies the problem.  What happens when you replace a loose, shorter sleeve with a longer, fitted sleeve?  You can't move.  After some cursing and swearing I added a lovely diamond gusset.  The picture isn't very clear, but it works and the dress is now w...

I've been a little quiet lately because work has had me running around the country like crazy.  I started on a small red, black and white travel capsule collection but the limited availability of basic sewing supplies in Hobart meant that I didn't get much of it finished in time.  The one thing I did manage to finish was this skirt which was then promptly rendered useless when the zipper broke.  This morning I made a trip to Spotlight in the hope they had restocked their zippers.  They hadn't, of course, so I had to buy a longer one but that wasn't a disaster.  So, a week later than planned, here is my new favourite skirt.  BWOF 02-11-103. You may recall I recently made this pattern for SWAP.  I love the first skirt and I wear it a lot, so I'm sure this one will be the same.  It's a perfect work skirt for me; comfortable and professional looking, but with enough style to stop it from being boring.  It needs a really good pres...

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

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

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

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

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